Childhood Friend
by KhaalidaNyx
Summary: Lilaya is a normal, ditsy, teenage girl-and she doesn't want to be. Living a normal life with no adventure whatsoever? Not on her top list of things to do, if she had gotten the choice. Then again, she isn't exactly normal. Not really. But what would be the fun in telling you? Don't think that she is dark; that job is already taken. Rated for stressing scenes! Still accepting OCs!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! If you are wondering about this story, let me give you some brief background on what this story will contain:**  
**OC's that aren't mine (some of them, anyway) will frequently appear throughout the story.**  
**The story is centered around the life of an OC that was created by combining several options named Lilaya Winters. Lilaya is a variation of Lilyaya, which by the way IS a real name and is the name of a girl in my school. Winters is a last name, and if you have a problem with this story already, suck it up and leave because I don't really give a shit (pardon the language).**  
**Mature themes will constantly be displayed throughout the story in the sense of torture and darkness, not sex.**  
**And most importantly... I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON! So don't give that look. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. The you-are-stealing-a-well-known-author's-shit kind of look. No, I am not. I am simply borrowing it and tinkering with it.  
All of this is possible because of sonofthetrigod, so thank you to him.**  
**Without further ado (because I consider myself to have warned you), I present to you Childhood Friend!  
And a side note to my dearest fans who have read this before: This chapter takes off where the last one ended, so you can skip ahead to the next chapter but maybe scroll to the bottom to refresh your minds.  
Note for those who have not read this before: I am not yet done with the edits because of... stuff, but when I am I will let you know. Until then bare with it because I promised to put this chapter up a long time ago and it is long overdue. **

* * *

A seven-year old boy with curly black hair sat alone in a sandbox. He had mischievous features that made the teacher automatically plop him in the front row, slightly pointed ears, and got compared to an elf a lot.

Nobody ever wanted to play with Leo.

The thing is, Leo was different. He could never hold still, couldn't read very well, and could make things that no seven-year old should be able to make.

He worked with his mom in the workshop at home, and stayed out of people's way at school. Leo was alone, and he was okay with that.

That's what he told himself, anyway.

Currently Leo was making a sand castle. It had a drawbridge, perfect columns, and even an inside.

"Hello there!" a sarcastic voice sneered.

Leo mentally cringed. Santino Itagoma, the biggest bully in school, had just chosen his newest victim.

Santino was a nine-year old boy with dark skin and shaggy black hair. He was taller than most kids in his grade, and used that in his advantage. Usually his favorite game was Kick Leo the Loser, but apparently someone else had gotten his interest today.

Leo didn't know what possessed him to look up. He had absolutely no idea that when he did, it would change his life forever.

Santino and his three of his goons were all jeering and making comments to someone who was obviously trying not to get involved in anything and mind their own business.

It was a girl that was about his age that was average height, with dirty blond hair that was pulled into a ponytail and deep, silver eyes with emerald and amber streaks and a light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She wore simple jean shorts and a black t-shirt, but Leo still thought she looked pretty. A thick book was clutched to her chest, and Santino was trying to rip it away.

Leo stood up and quickly dusted himself off, before going over to where the kids were.

"Hey!" Leo yelled, hoping to cause some sort of distraction. It worked.

Santino and his buddies momentarily stopped harassing the pretty girl and turned to him.

Oops, he thought. Maybe I should have planned this out better . . .

"What do you want, Valdez?" Santino sneered.

"Oh, um -"

"If you're here to join me, I'm flattered, but I don't need someone as weak as you."

A lightbulb went off in Leo's head. He had a plan. A stupid one, but a plan nonetheless.

"Wow, Santino," Leo said in mock-awe, but he doubted Santino would be able to tell the difference. "You've made your vocabulary bigger. I didn't even know you knew a word as big as flattered."

The girl behind the Fantastic Four was gaping at Leo like he'd lost his mind, which was possibly true. Why was he protecting someone he just met?

It took a few seconds for Santino to process Leo's words, but when he did, a scowl formed on his face. "Are you insulting me, Valdez?"

Leo shrugged nonchalantly, but he was panicking on the inside. Santino was at least a head taller than him, stronger, and two years older. "Seems that way. I mean, you always bully smaller kids and now your picking on girls. Is it because your scared?"

Santino narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What?"

"Are. You. Scared?" Leo repeated, like he was talking to a small child.

Santino smirked and got in a charging stance. "You wanna protect losers, Valdez?"

Leo tried not to show how scared he really was. "She's not a loser, Itagoma. You're just too blind to see it."

"Get ready to be crushed, Valdez," Santino said, cracking his knuckles.

Leo screwed his eyes shut, waiting for a blow that never came. Finally he had the courage to crack one eye open.

What the -?

"Are you okay?" the blond asked in a musical voice.

She was standing over three unconscious boys that had bloody faces, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Wha-? How-?" Leo sputtered.

The girl shyly scuffed her foot on the ground. "Thank you. Fo - for standing up for me."

Leo flashed her a crooked smile and her cheeks turned pink. "Hey, no problem, right? Besides, your the one who did all the real work." He gestured to the boys on the ground. "I'm Leo, by the way," he said, sticking out his hand.

"Lilaya." She softly shook his outstretched hand.

"Pretty," Leo mused to himself.

"Thanks," Lilaya giggled.

Leo blushed. He didn't know she heard him.

"So . . ." he trailed off awkwardly, trying to think of something to say. He rocked up on his toes and back on his heels. "Do you want to be friends?"

The girl's pretty silver and emerald eyes widened, like she couldn't believe what he was asking.

Leo mentally hit himself. Why would she want to be friends with Leo the loser? She was pretty and nice, so she was bound to have lots of friends.

"Of course," she said, shocking him. Lilaya was grinning like she just won the lottery. The blond grabbed the shorter boy and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so excited! I've never had a friend before."

Leo pulled back. "Really?"

She nodded shyly.

Leo grinned crookedly. "Well, that makes two of us."

* * *

**Chapter 3: What Becomes of Us**

**.**

**.**

**.**

"I had that dream again."

Lilaya and Leo lay in the grass, looking up at the clear blue sky while the sun warmed their skin.

Leo turned his head to the side to look at his first ever real friend that he had gotten to know in the past few months. It was summer now, and their parents were sitting on the other end of the park with the picnic basket next to them.

"Will you tell me what it was about this time?" Leo asked, sitting up. Lilaya followed suit.

The pretty six year old girl pursed her lips thoughtfully, like she wasn't sure if she should.

"Alright," she finally decided after a time. Standing up, she brushed the grass off of her cream colored sundress and held a hand out for Leo to take. "Let's go somewhere else, though."

Grinning with excitement, Leo grabbed his friend's hand and hauled himself to his feet before they went to find a new place to talk.

Leo couldn't stop the excitement and nervousness from bubbling in his chest. Lilaya—or Lily as he'd dubbed her in private—had been having dreams for a while that seemed to scare her, although she wouldn't tell him what they were about. She always seemed nervous—scared, almost—when he had brought up the topic of her dreams.

Lilaya lead him over to a tree that had a branch that was even low enough for him to reach and began to climb the tree gracefully. She climbed with enough control of an eleven year old who climbed often, instead of a six year old who had climbed a tree about twice in her whole life.

Leo, on the other hand . . .

The curly haired boy scrambled after the blonde, cutting himself on wayward branches and slipping a few times.

The two children settled on a thick tree branch a bit over halfway up the strong tree, sitting in silence for a minute and just kicking their feet back and forth. For Leo, he didn't want to push her in case she clamped up and decided she didn't want to tell him about her dream anymore. And Leo was a very, very curious person. But he also was just seven. And had ADD and ADHD.

"So . . ." Leo prompted after a few minutes of agonizing silence. "You're dream?" His fingers were pulling off flimsy branches around them and twisting them into another impossible creation.

Lilaya clenched her fists in her lap and looked down at her hands, her bangs shielding her eyes from view.

For a moment Leo feared he went too far.

"Look, Lils, I'm so—"

"It was awful," Lilaya cut him off, her voice just above a whisper. Her face was still tilted towards her lap. "It—it was so real and so painful, I thought that I was actually there."

Leo's eyes widened slightly. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't this. "What did you see?" he asked hesitantly.

Lilaya's arms shook slightly. "I—I'm not exactly sure. There was a boy. A leader of an army. There were just flashes of things . . ."

.

Lilaya's Dream:

.

_A pale, skinny black haired boy cowered in under his bed, trying to control his erratic breathing. The door suddenly slammed open and a walrus-like man holding a beer bottle staggered in._

_"Oi, brat," he slurred. "I know you're in here."_

The man crouched down by the bed and saw the hiding boy.

And then the scene changed.

_The black haired child was now a few years older, but obviously the same boy. He looked about nine years old and was clinging to his mother's leg._

_"Do you have to go?" he asked, looking up at his mom with big sea-green eyes._

_The brunet woman's eyes softened as she gazed at her son. "I'm sorry, Percy. I'll be back at nine."_

_"But that's in five hours!"_

_The woman's eyes glossed over with unshed tears and she petted the boy's shaggy black hair like a cat. "It'll be over before you know it. Gabe will be home in a few hours."_

_Sighing in defeat, the boy let go of his mom's work clothes and looked at the ground, his hair shadowing his eyes. "Okay, mom."_

_The woman looked like she wanted to cry, but bit her lip and bent down to her little boy's level. "I-it'll be okay, Perseus. We just don't have a lot of money right now." Getting on her knees, she put her hands on the boy's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "I'm so sorry. Tell you what, how about you stay here until I get home and be a good boy, and I'll take you out to eat."_

_The boy sniffled. "Anywhere?"_

_A small smile worked its way onto the mother's face. "Anywhere. As long as its not too expensive."_

_Unexpectedly, the boy lunged at his mom and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you, mommy. Please come home soon."_

_A tear spilled down the pretty mother's cheek. "Okay, my big man."_

The scene changed again.

_The boy was running up a steep hill with waist-high grass, his friend's arm slung around his shoulders with his mom on his other friends side._

_Rain poured down in sheets, already soaking the trio to the bone and making the hill harder to climb._

_The boy blinked the water out of his sea green eyes and turned back to look at their demolished, overturned car where a huge, furry figure walked around. "That's the—"_

_"Pasiphaë's son," his mother cut him off. "I wish I'd known how badly they wanted to kill you."_

_"But that's the—"_

_"Don't say his name," the boy's mother warned. "Names have power."_

Blackness bled into the image and in a swirl of colors it changed.

_The black haired boy looked a few years older than before. He was more muscular, his skin was nicely tanned. Greek battle armor adorned his figure and a sword was clutched in his hand. Kids from ten to eighteen surrounded him in a loose circle while he stood by a white van. A beautiful tan girl with curly golden hair and gray eyes stood by his side, a dagger strapped to her waist and she was also wearing battle armor. On his other side was a girl that was maybe two years younger than him with a gray sweater on and the hood pulled up over her baseball cap, hiding all but her lips and chin from view. Ripped up, dirty jeans clung to her legs and old tennis shoes protected her feet. A cross between a dagger and a knife was clutched tightly in her hand._

_The boy gave out battle plans and a giggling group of girls flocked over to him, kissing all over his face when he gave them permission to use perfume on the army._

_The girl next to him leaned against the van, laughing while the blonde fumed in anger._

Inky blackness bled into the image, destroying it from view and changing again.

_The black haired boy twirled through the army, swinging his sword and cutting down the monsters with grace._

_"No!" someone screamed, diverting his attention from the enemy. He paused for a moment—just long enough for a gray and blue blur to crash into his side and send him sprawling onto the ground. Blood dripped onto his face and he looked up, his eyes wide with horror._

_"Percy..."_

.

END DREAM

.

Leo listened with wide eyes. Lilaya had a creative imagination, but he didn't know if she could dream this up.

Deciding the mood was too serious for his tastes, he pretended to fall, grabbing the branch he was sitting on to keep himself above the ground and let his body drop. "Woah!"

Lilaya's head snapped up, panic clear in her eyes. "LEO!" Laughing drew her attention to below and she watched her friend swing back and forth on the branch with one hand.

"I was just joking," he said sheepishly.

A furious expression lit up her face. "You're going to pay for that!"

And for the rest of the day, the bright laughter of two children lit up the park.

* * *

**Είστε τι; {You're WHAT?}**

**.**

**.**

**.**

Leo sat at the picnic table outside, coloring pictures of things he wanted to make when he was older with the crayons. He was still upset about the drawing he had lost two years ago, but he didn't know why. Maybe it was because he spent so much time drawing the outline of the ship or the fact that it actually didn't look half-bad when he \was done. Whatever the reason, he couldn't seem to let go of the fact that he had lost that drawing.

Leo's mom was cleaning the house today and had sent the small seven year old black haired boy outside to play. The small boy couldn't comprehend why she was so frantic about getting the house ready for the guests; after all, it was just Lilaya and her dad. Shrugging it off, the boy went back to drawing, filling in the space of the rooms of his dream house.

A hand suddenly came onto his wrist, starting him and making him drop the crayon. He turned his brown eyes up and they met silver. "Lilaya," Leo smiled. Then he noticed the tear tracks down her cheeks and how her eyes were read and puffy. Muffled sobs escaped her lips.

"Lilaya?" Leo asked uncertainly.

The blonde girl tugged insistently on Leo's wrist, dragging him away from the picnic table and towards the large pine tree a few yards away.

"Lilaya," Leo repeated, worried for his friend. "Lilaya, what's going on?"

Not answering, the small—but surprisingly strong—blonde shoved Leo towards the trunk of the tree where the branches were low enough for even Leo to reach. He got the message: climb.

Leo was nowhere near as graceful as Lilaya was but he tried his best to get into the tree as smoothly as he could and then climbed about eight feet above the ground. Lilaya joined him on a branch facing his and grabbed the trunk for support. They climbed up the tree and went about eight feet off the ground. Leo was about to say something to break the silence because of his ADD and ADHD acting up but before he could get a word out Lilaya cut him off.

"I—I had a dream," she whispered. "It was so scary. In my dreams I can usually see what is going on, but this time I _felt _everything and I _thought _what they thought, but I was still watching what was happening."

Leo blinked in shock. What could have scared his friend so badly that it made her react this way?

The girl swallowed thickly and tucked a silky strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Her eyes filled up with tears and she hastily wiped away the ones that overflowed from her eyes. "There were monsters in this one. A—and a girl was shooting them all with other people and making plants grow. T—then sh—she got thrown into a tree by a big monster and it _hurt._ It hurt so bad and I wanted it to just _stop_." **(A/N: Visit Oneshots: Childhood Friend and go to chapter two. If you have any questions PM me or leave it in a review. I TAKE REQUESTS FOR OC'S!)**

Leo listened to the tale with wide eyes. Nothing like that had ever happened before. Sure, she had creepy or confusing dreams all the time but she could never actually _feel_what the people in her dreams were feeling. "Oh."

The blonde closed her silver eyes and took a shuddering breath, wiping the last traces of tears from her cheeks.

"Lil?" the black haired boy asked.

The girl in question looked at him curiously.

"You came over here all of a sudden—I was just wondering—does your dad know you are over here?"

Lilaya fixed her wide silver eyes on his brown ones and held his gaze. "Oops?"

"Leo!" his mother called from the backyard.

_"Sí, mama?"_ he automatically called back.

"Lilaya's _padre_ is wondering if she is with you?"

_"Sí, lo siento si le preocupaba_**(1)**," Leo said, starting to climb back down the tree.

"It's fine, _cariñ**(2)**," _she said, sounding relieved.

"Her _padre**(3)**_ was just worried about her."

"She just—wanted to come over early," he said, quickly making something up. Lilaya's dreams were _their _secret.

"Okay, _pequeño," _she said airily. "Can you and Lilaya come in? Her father should be here soon."

"Okay!" Leo agreed happily, climbing the rest of the way down. He ducked under the prickly branches that hung down passed his shoulders and ran into the open yard.

Lilaya dropped down after him, her small feet hitting the ground with muffled taps, twigs snapping under her feet. They raced into the house, throwing the door open and running into the living room, hearing the bang of the door shut after them. Leo's mom, a pretty Mexican woman, bustled into the room, tucking a loose strand of her black hair behind her ear.

"Okay, Lilaya's father should be here any moment—"

The doorbell rang, cutting off her words. A second later Lilaya's dad let himself in. He was a handsome man that use to be an actor but quit to become a paramedic at the local hospital. His hair was a chestnut brown and green eyes. They were the same green that surrounded Lilaya's pupil.

When his green eyes caught sight of Lilaya, his shoulders visibly sagged in relief. "There you are, Lilly. Please don't do that to me again."

The small blonde girl offered her father a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, daddy." Her father shook his head fondly. "It's okay, sweetheart."

He turned his attention to Leo's mom. "Did you tell them yet?"

"Tell us what?" Leo asked, half curious, half wary. He wondered what it could be. Were they going out to eat somewhere again? Did they have presents? Maybe toys that he could take apart and turn into what he wanted or work tools?

"No," Leo's mother admitted, biting her bottom lip indecisively. "I thought we could tell them when, you know, you got here."

Lilaya's father nodded in understanding. "Do you want me to do it or you?"

Leo's mom raised her black eyebrows in a _'really?'_ gesture. "I can do it. I just thought it would be better if you were here."Taking a deep breath, she turned to the kids who were watching the exchange with interest. She met Lilaya's unique, beautiful silver eyes that had amber streaks petaling throughout them and a ring of emerald green around her people then turned to Leo who had the same chocolate brown eyes as her own that were currently filled with over, her hand met Lilaya's father's and the two kids watched in curiosity as their fingers laced together.

"We're dating," she admitted.

"…What?"

* * *

**Gone**

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

_—o, no, no!_ Legs tensed before pure adrenaline rushed over her, springing her into action and launching herself towards the oblivious boy with a sword in Greek armor. She stretched her arms out and tensed, shoving his body weight to the side, using her whole being to shove him out of harm's way, her palms digging into his shoulder and back. Being unprepared, he staggered to the side in shock before falling to the ground awkwardly, a muffled "oomph" coming from his lips and his sword falling out of his hand.

He pushed himself up onto his elbows as quickly as he could in his disoriented state and turned to see who had shoved him painfully, only for his eyes to widen in horror when he saw who it was.

_White noise._

She hadn't shoved him too hard, did she? Was he okay? Did he hit his head? CampHalf-Blood needed a leader; did she hurt him so that he wouldn't be able to fight? She never wanted to hurt her brother—it was one of her biggest fears, having him get hurt.

"Are you okay?" she tried to ask, wanting to know if he was injured. She only got past the first two words before choking on the last. It felt as though her lungs were filling with water, making her unable to breath. She coughed and sputtered, trying to dispel the liquid in her lungs that was laboring her. It came out of her mouth and dripped down her chin and onto her sweatshirt in a thick sticky mouthful. _What the—?_

_Confusion._

Taking a delicate pale hand, she wiped her fingers on her chin and pulled them back to see what it was. Her mind didn't register it right away. She just noticed that it was red, warm, and thick.

_Blood._

Realization setting in, she looked down at her torso to see what damage was there. Of course she pushed her brother_—Percy,hisnameisPercy—_out of the way without a second thought. _But at what price?_

A six foot long wooden spear jutted out from just under her ribs from what she could tell. She wondered how she hadn't noticed before—_thankthegodsitsnumb—,_ after all, it was a serious injury. Her body seemed to be heavier, like she was trying to hold the weight of the sky on her shoulders_—PercycoulddoitsosocanI—_and she almost fell to her knees, only just managing to keep herself upright.

_Pain._

She suddenly wanted to find whatever idiot said that dying would be painless and give him a good right hook to the face. Her whole body was on fire_—ithurtssomuchPercywhereareyou?—,_ spreading from her stomach through the rest of her veins. Vision tunneling, she managed to catch a glimpse of her attacker, killer, and the person she thought was her friend.

Beautiful blue eyes filled with horror.

Then she knew. She _knew_ she hadn't meant to kill her. She had wanted to kill Percy. But _why?_

"Wh—why—?" she wanted to ask why she did it. Why would she throw away _everything_ they had worked for by trying to kill Percy? How did she even _know_ where his Achilles heel _was?_ Were they even _friends?_ Was everything she had said to her and all the kind words just a bunch of _lies?_ She had said, "Don't worry, we'll get through this together," and "Just ignore them—you're not a freak. They just like to pick on people to make themselves feel better," and so many other words that helped her make it through each day. Were they all lies? The thought make her burn with anger, humiliation, and sadness—almost enough to override the pain. She had told her her hopes, dreams, wishes, and worries. _Hades,_ she had even told her _battle plans_ and what she was going to do _instead _of carrying out the orders Percy had given!

Slowly she fell backwards, her vision tunneling and eyes sliding shut. _Why? Why, why, why?!_

The Fates must have hated her to give her this treatment. _Please be safe, Percy._

Her once-friend suddenly had enough sense to turn tail and run before anyone else figured out it was her—if anyone ever noticed she was dead, that is. And she was dying. She could feel her life force slipping away and Thanatos' looming figure slowly rise up, ready to take her soul to the Underworld to be judged.

Would she get Elysian? Unlikely. She hadn't done anything remotely remarkable in life that would count towards eternal happiness. Isles of the Blessed? Now that thought wanted to make her laugh out loud at such a horrible joke. Most likely the Fields of Asphodel was where she would end up if she was lucky but with her extreme streak of horrible luck, it would most likely be the Fields of Punishment.

All this happened in less than ten seconds.

Taking one last shuddering breath, she allowed her eyes to slide closed and—

.

.

—sat up in bed, panting and sucking air into her lungs with fervor. Lilaya held a hand over her fluttering heart, desperate to make it slow its rhythm. Her waist-length blonde hair was stuck to her forehead and the sides of her face with sweat, her face was pale, and her whole body was shaking.

_If only Leo was he—_

She cut off that train of thought quickly, but it was no use. Old pain seeped through her heart and make her eyes sting. Leo was her best and only close friend to date, and now he was gone.

_But it's been seven years since then, hasn't it?_ a nasty voice whispered in her mind. _So why are you still crying about him?_

Lilaya was fourteen - almost fifteen - years old. She knew she wasn't normal, but couldn't figure out why.

It might have had something to do with the snake women, giant dogs, people with swords walking down the street and other people passing them like they were holding nothing but hot dogs and every day pedestrians. Maybe.

Things had always been bad for her since her once-friend's mom had died and he ran away, but things really took a turn for the shizhole when she had the dream. It started like this:

The first thing she noticed was how blurry everything was. Like it was a blurred picture, but she could make out some things.

Two beds sat innocently against the wall on one side of the room she was in, the oak headboards standing out against the black wallpaper. Both were made neatly, the one furthest from her a green and the closest one red. The black pillows were propped up on each one, and the four-poster beds looked normal and seemed to be made for small children.

The carpet was strange. It was a spotless white color, but seemed to be brittle and yet soft under her bare feet at the same time.

Shelves were lined up closely near one another, filling the entire wall to her left - the one opposite of the beds - with porcelain dolls. As if that wasn't creepy enough, they were all dirty as if they hadn't been cleaned in months or ruined. A few were even holding their own decapitated heads.

A cracked mirror hung on the wall above the beds, large with no frame and in need of some cleaning.

She then noticed she was in a pretty blue sundress with long sleeves and her hair was in loose curls.

"Well, look at this, brother. I so do believe a little demi has wandered into our home."

Lilaya looked towards the owner of the creepy, echoey voice, only to blink in confusion. There - on the wall just across from her - was a giant dollhouse set up with dolls in it, all of them missing one or more limbs and incredibly dirty. A girl was standing in front of the dollhouse clutching a doll to her chest and a teddy bear hanging from her hand, and Lilaya's eyes grew wide and she unconsciously took a step back as she surveyed the girl, not liking the aura that was coming off her. And what a strange girl she was.

It was strange because she was holding a dirty doll that was missing an arm, leg, and a foot, and a teddy bear that was missing an eye and patches of fur, she also wore a short, puffy skirt - petticoat? - that went just above the girl's knees, black tights, black Mary Jane shoes, a tight white blouse that was tucked into her skirt, and a small red cape that reached the waistband of her skirt with the hood pulled up, so only part of her nose, line of her jaw, and lips were visible. But what really caught Lilaya's attention was that the girl's clothes were ripped and torn in various places, smeared in some golden powder she couldn't identify that stood out against all the other dull colors, mud, and what suspiciously looked like blood.

"It seems so, dear sister," an echoey male voice like the girl's said, obviously older than the girl who looked about eight or nine - even younger than herself. The male looked to be about thirteen years old and what skin was visible was covered in horrible scars. The boy had a helmet on that was in the shape of a terrible monster's face and he wore armor that covered his body.

The girl slightly swung the arm that was holding the teddy bear and Lilaya felt rather unnerved. "But I wonder why. We aren't doing anything of importance now, are we, brother dear?" Her voice was beautiful, Lilaya dimly realized. Like something she could listen to for hours, even though it still had the echoey quality to it.

"I don't believe so, Lithe," he hummed, voice seemingly bouncing off the walls and repeating again and again.

"Then I wonder why she is here, Chry," the girl - Lithe, was it? - talked about her like she wasn't there, voice getting faint.

Using every ounce of bravery she had, Lilaya managed to say, "Who are you?"

Both seemed amused at the question, although it was hard to tell with the hood and mask.

The girl drew herself up proudly. "I am known as Lithelacinth, but you may call me Lithe. I have been told it is easier to pronounce. And this," she gestured to the boy beside her, and Lilaya almost had a hard time understanding what the girl was saying because of how it echoed, "is my little brother, Chrysaor."

Lilaya looked at the little girl like she was insane. Surely she must have been mistaken. There was no way this child was older than him!

Lithelacinth seemed to have read her expression, "Do not judge on what you see, daughter of an immortal, blessed by many. You shall see soon that everything is not as it seems."

"What do you mean?" Lilaya asked, obviously bemused.

Everything around her suddenly flickered before coming in with clarity. Everything was more pronounced, but it made the teen even more unnerved as she scanned her surroundings again. When the young cloaked girl spoke, her voice no longer had the echoing feature to it and was sharp and beautiful.

"I died because I was a pawn," Lithelacinth spat in obvious anger. "And I still do not remember everything, even though it has been years. I shall not save you from sharing my fate, but be warned. Your path is one you forge on your own. It shall be your choice to create steep cliffs or smooth planes. Choose wisely, for you shall not have any second chances. We will meet again." She stretched her small, pale hand out and grabbed her brother's tanned one.

Then they vanished.

The ground under Lilaya fell apart and crumbled away, and she found herself tumbling through nothing and falling for what felt like miles. Screams were torn from her throat as she twisted and spun in the air, her hair whipping at and around her face, her clothes snapping in the air.

Suddenly she saw something approaching. It looked like ground.

Oh no! she managed to think through her panic. This is it!

Two hundred feet.

One-hundred and fifty feet.

One-hundred feet.

Fifty feet.

Thirty.

Twenty.

Ten.

The ground was -

.

- woke with a start, sweating and shaking.

"Lilaya, sweetheart?" her father called, knocking on the door.

"Yes, dad?" she called back, voice shaking slightly.

"You okay?" The concern was thick in his voice.

"Fine," she managed to croak out, slipping from the warm covers of her bed.

"If you're sure..." he said, trailing off.

"Positive," the blonde responded in what she hoped was a confident voice.

"Just wanted to let you know breakfast is ready. I have to go to work. Please don't be late for school."

"On it, dad," she said, slipping into the bathroom that was connected to her room.

She quickly shut and locked the door behind her, then braced her hands on the counter, taking deep, snaky breaths as she tried to process what she had just seen in her dream.

"It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream," she repeated to herself, looking into the sink.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and turned on the faucet, cupping her hands under the cold water and splashing it onto her face. She looked up at the mirror and brushed the stray locks of hair from her face, only to freeze.

Written in horrible, jagged, curly writing were three haunting words.

I'lL BE WAtcHInG

She screamed and lurched back, now noticing the thick, metallic scent of blood that filled her nostrils.

Her back hit the wall painfully, but she was too frightened to notice. The water now sounded like snakes hissing as it spewed into the sink.

She trembled, looking at the mirror with wide eyes.

Whatever the substance was on the mirror - she had a feeling it was blood, but was hoping she was wrong - was slowly dripping down. It would make the perfect scene for a horror movie, but she didn't want to be the star actor for this one.

And then she blinked, and it was gone.

The tap water was even off, but her hair framing her face was still a bit damp.

"What the heck happened?" she whispered to herself, still pressed against the wall and trembling faintly.

Positive she hadn't imagined it, she slowly leaned off the wall and took a few steps forward until she was at the counter again. Taking a trembling hand, she slowly reached forward and touched the glassy surface.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing abnormal happened, making her confused.

"Lilaya!" the shrill screech of her stepmother's muffled voice came from outside the bathroom door. Was she in her room again?

"You shall be late for school if you don't hurry," she tutted disapprovingly, a thick French accent in her voice.

"Sorry!" Lilaya said dismissively, obviously not sorry at all.

She heard her stepmother sigh and walk away, grumbling under her breath.

Voletta and Lilaya had a strange relationship. It wasn't that Lilaya hated the woman that had been her stepmother for a year and a half per se, but she didn't love her, either. It was more tolerance between them. Voletta really did love Lilaya's dad, but for some reason the blonde teen couldn't bring herself to love the woman that tried to hard.

Lilaya quickly ran a brush through her long blonde hair, enjoying how smoothly it ran through her silky locks. She didn't put on any makeup other than some foundation, even though it felt like a part of her screamed at her to smear some eyeshadow on and run lipgloss over her lips and run mascara over her eyelashes.

Dashing out of her bathroom, she threw on basketball shorts, mismatching socks, and a tight t-shirt. Without use of a mirror she braided her golden hair over her shoulder and took one of the three elastics off her wrist and tied the end. Her fringe framed the sides of her face prettily, but she never paid much attention to her looks.

Running out of her room and down the hall, she came face-to-face with a beautiful, tall, brunet with creamy skin and blue eyes.

"Hey Voletta," Lilaya said quickly before running past her stepmother and down the hall to the kitchen.

"I made you breakfast if you want it!" Voletta called, her musical voice floating after her.

"Thanks!" Lilaya called back, quickly sliding over to the table and spooning the eggs and fruit into her mouth, barely registering the taste. Her multi-colored eyes glanced at the clock hanging innocently on the wall and quickly snatched the bacon off her plate to eat it on her way when she realized she only had seven minutes left to get to school.

Running to the front door, she easily slipped on her tennis shoes without even having to bend down. She grabbed her backpack off the hook right in front of her and swung it onto her shoulder with her free hand.

Her bike was propped up against the house, so abandoning all manners, she stuffed the bacon into her mouth and swung her leg over her bike, and petaled to school.

She ran into the double doors and sat just in time as the bell rung.

"Ah, miss Winters," the teacher drawled, "so nice of you to join us."

Kids snickered all around the room and Lilaya felt her face heat up.

"Sorry, sir," she mumbled. And I wish I could pound your face in, she mentally added.

"Now, if you will all pull out your homework and turn it in."

Collective groans sounded around the room.

"I know, I know. Homework is terrible. Your lives are so hard. Now, lets see those papers! Points will be docked if they are not turned in today!"

Lilaya grabbed a crumpled paper from her backpack and passed it to the front with a few others.

"Now, let us go over what we learned in pages three twenty-two through three thirty-four. This particular assignment..."

Lilaya zoned out as the teacher rambled on. She couldn't understand anything he wrote on the board, anyways. She had a bad case of dyslexia and ADD, and a minor case of ADHD.

Bored, Lilaya doodled art in her notebook, not really paying attention to what it was until the dark-skinned pretty girl next to her leaned over to her and said in a hushed voice, "Girl, that is seriously creepy."

Raising her eyebrows, Lilaya looked down at her artwork, only to freeze in shock.

A very clear picture of the boy and girl in her dreams that day were standing there, hand-in-hand, the disfigured doll at the girl's feet and the mutilated teddy bear handing limply in her arm. At the bottom of her page were the curly, neat-written words: I'LL BE WATCHING.

Eyes wide in shock and horror and face flushed in embarrassment, Lilaya snapped her drawing book closed.

"Yeah," she whispered back, hiding her fright beneath a facade. "Sorry. I don't know why I drew that."

The girl hummed but said nothing more as she turned her attention to the teacher, but Lilaya couldn't concentrate. She had a feeling something was going to happen soon, and she wasn't sure if it would be good or bad.

For three months, Lilaya's life was completely, disturbingly calm. The only exciting things that happened was Austen Stanford's big party, the usual gossip at school, sports games, and what television program was good.

In other words, Lilaya was on edge.

Something bad always happened in her life, yet nothing did. She didn't even get detention or anything lower than a 'B' on her homework.

It felt like the calm before the storm, and she was right.

She was walking home from school, unconcerned about anything other than her English homework, when she heard the eight words that ended her life, and made it begin again.

"Would you like to play dolls with me?"

The voice stopped her in her tracks, her body tensing and a warning chill running down her spine. Against her will, the blonde teen's head turned slowly to the left where the voice came from. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw who had spoken.

Standing not ten feet away from her on the road was a hooded girl who looked about seventeen years old. The girl wore a short, black skirt that reached mid-thigh with a few white petticoats underneath that were the same length. Her white blouse was tucked loosely into the skirt, but part of the front and side were falling out. Black combat boots were on her feet. A red hood covered her face from view and the hem ended just above her knees. The cloak had slits on the sides that her arms were through; her forearms had black, chain-like cuffs on them. She clutched a handful of Barbie dolls to her chest.

"You." The word slipped through Lilaya's lips before she could stop it, but she didn't care. This was the same girl she had seen in her dream months ago, only now she was older. It should have been impossible to tell with the hood covering her face, but a gut feeling told Lilaya that this was the same girl. It was also telling her to turn tail and book it for her house, but her body seemed frozen in place.

"I suppose most girls this age don't play with dolls anymore, no?" she mused to herself, tilting her head before shrugging. The girl sat cross-legged on the ground in the middle of the road without a care in the world and lay the Barbie dolls in her lap, looking content as she fiddled with their hair and straightened them up.

"You're Lithelacinth," she meant to say as a statement, but it came out as a shaky whisper.

The girl didn't move her head at all, but Lilaya felt a pair of eyes on her. The hooded girl's lips quirked in amusement. "You remembered. I'm touched."

"Wh—wh—" Lilaya stuttered, eyes wide and shaking. So many questions waited on her tongue. _How was she here? Why was she watching her? How did she age so quickly?_

"Come here, child of an Olympian," Lithelacinth said, cutting her off.

It seemed as though the blonde girl's legs had a mind of their own as they carried her closer to the mysterious girl, stopping when she was just three feet away from her. Her legs were shaking and felt like they were going to give out from under her any moment.

"Sit," Lithelacinth commanded without looking up, straightening a blonde doll's hair.

Unable to disobey, Lilaya sat down across from the person that made her more terrified than she had ever felt in her life.

"This is Percy," Lithelacinth stated, holding up a doll. He had shaggy back hair, a crooked grin, tan skin, sea green eyes, and was wearing sneakers, jeans, and an orange t-shirt on. "His real name is Perseus Jackson. He is a leader and an inspirational figure to those he meets. His fatal flaw is loyalty. A true enemy to be wary of if you do not know him well, considering he is as uncontrollable as the sea—unless, of course, you know his weakness. The people he cares about most are his friends, his mother, and his girlfriend. Keep him away from water and you have a better chance of winning. Or trick him into something that he cannot win. Along the way, make sure he avoids any traps set by Gaea."

Lilaya tensed her back as she stared at the doll being held in the pale girl's hands. Her dreams . . . could this be the same Perseus Jackson she had been dreaming about for years? The coloring between the boy and the doll was disturbingly the same.

"Hold onto him for me, will you?" Lithelacinth said. Without waiting for a response from Lilaya, she handed the doll to the terrified girl and picked up the next one.

"This is Annabeth," she said, holding up the next doll. It was a girl with gray eyes and long golden hair that was tied into a ponytail, wearing jeans shorts, tennis shoes, and the same orange t-shirt as 'Percy'. "She is the strategist and tends to over-think some problems. Her fatal flaw is pride. She is Percy's girlfriend. To defeat her, give her something that requires more bronze than brains. Perhaps a match between her and one of my pets will do. Have her underestimate the opponent so that she under-thinks the solution." Lithelacinth's pale lips twisted into a nasty grin that sent chills down Lilaya's spine. The elder hooded girl held the doll out for the younger blonde to take. Hesitating for only a moment, Lilaya reached forward and grabbed the doll, trying not to focus on the fact that the dolls in her hands felt too real to be plastic.

"This is Jason," the hooded girl suddenly said, cutting the blonde's train of thought off. The doll had short blonde hair and sky blue eyes, and also had a healthy tan like 'Percy' did. He had on a purple t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. "He is also a leader, but isn't as inspirational as Percy, and tends to argue with him a lot. His fatal flaw is lust for power. To defeat him, inconspicuously gloat him into a fight while pretending to be weak." She once again held out the doll for Lilaya to take.

Gently setting the 'Percy' and 'Annabeth' in her lap, Lilaya reached forward and inspected the doll she had taken from the hooded girl. Small words were printed in black on the first two's shirts that read: CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Nothing was on Jason's.

"This is Frank." She held up the next doll, a buff-looking guy with a baby face. Lilaya wondered if it was accidentally made like that. The doll had on the same outfit as Jason. "He can transform into any animal he knows about, but his life depends on a little piece of firewood. Burn the wood, he dies. His fatal flaw is self-doubt. Pretend to be weak, helpless, and friendly so that he underestimates me. Being clumsy will also help." She hummed and once again held the doll out for Lilaya to take.

The blonde's mind was buzzing. Were these real people? If so, how did Lithelacinth know so much about them? Why did she speak about them as if they were enemies?

"This is Piper," she informed next, holding up a pretty brunet doll with a mixture of colors in her eyes. She had on the same outfit as 'Annabeth'. "She wants to be strong in battle, but her parentage doesn't fully allow that. If she speaks, consider your own words before listening to her. She can be quite persuasive. Her fatal flaw is also self-doubt, but at times it spikes into over-confidence. She has a tendency to think when she should act and act when she should think. Since she isn't particularly strong and I am immune to her speech, get her into hand-to-hand combat." She once again handed Lilaya the doll which the blonde set in her lap with the others before flashing her a predatory grin. "You'll like this one."

She held up a shorter boy doll with dark curly hair and skin that looked he was half-black and half-white. He wore the same outfit as 'Percy'. "This is Leo Valdez."

Lilaya felt all air leave her as her eyes widened in shock. Leo? Her Leo? The one she would climb trees with when they were little? The one she would color with and tell her dreams to?

"He loves to tinker with anything he can get his hands on and is actually quite clever. His fatal flaw is curiosity. It shouldn't be too hard to undermine him either. Just plant a seed of doubt in his mind then engage him in combat. Split him apart from his friends." She held the doll out to Lilaya once again. The blonde teen grasped the doll gently with shaking hands, staring at the doll's ever-smiling face and trying to memorize every detail as if this was the real Leo in front of her. Her first and only best friend.

"This is Hazel," she presented the next doll, which was a girl with dark skin, golden eyes, and a mane of curly hair. She was wearing a purple t-shirt. "She has power over the jewels in and above the earth, but it is a curse and doesn't like using it. Her boyfriend is Frank. Her fatal flaw is doubt in others. Again, she is physically weak, so simply engage her in some form of combat while she is separated from her friends, or present her with a challenge that would be impossible for her to complete."

As she set that down next to 'Frank' and reached to pick up the next, a smile of unholy glee stretched her lips upwards. "This is Peyton." The doll wasn't wearing the same outfits as any of the others. She had on a royal blue sweatshirt, gray leggings, and black boots. What caught Lilaya's attention though and made her confused was that the doll had no face. It chilled the blonde to the bone to look at. The empty eye-sockets that were painted the same color as the rest of the skin, no lips, eyebrows, or anything else. The doll only had a nose. "She is stronger than most would guess." She giggled at that, as if sharing an inside joke with herself. "She would have done anything to keep her brother, Percy, safe, but some people were foolish and decided she should be punished." Lilaya felt as if she would be sick when she heard how happy Lithelacinth was that Peyton was being 'punished.'

Just as Lilaya blinked, black chains were wound tightly around the doll in Lithelacinth's hands, wrapping from the doll's ankles to around it's face.

"Now she is in pain. She has to rely on two heroes to come and save her, and they will. They will because its a part of the plan. Her fatal flaw is lust for pain or death, but she has mastered control over it. She is destined to fall in love with a boy that will crush her if he refuses, making her go on a warpath that will leave utter chaos in her path, but if he accepts, he will be able to tame her heart. She is not what she seems."

She set the doll down in her own lap instead of off handing it to Lilaya like the others,

"Your life changes now, Lilaya Winters. I have delayed your fate long enough. You now have four days to get to Camp Jupiter in San Francisco, California, or you die. Follow the daughter of Neptune."

Lilaya seemed to regain control of herself and opened her mouth to speak, but before a sound could escape her, she screamed.

The scenery of her neighborhood had melted away into a crumbling black cliff, chunks of rock breaking off and falling into the endless abyss below.

A girl's tortured scream echoed around her. _"Someone, help me, please! Percy! Where are you, Percy?! Someone help me!"_

The dolls in Lilaya's lap melted into darkness, and Lithelacinth's amused laugh came from all around her, making her tense and jump to her feet in fear, her hair standing on end. She staggered in a circle, looking for any sign of life or the direction where the girl's horrible screams were coming from.

"The innocent were slaughtered  
So many years ago  
In the place of darkness  
Slew by an evil foe  
The monster tried to keep the hero  
From entering this age  
It used a king of greed  
Who acted on his rage

The monster has another plan  
To prevent the gods' elect  
From being powerful in the world  
And fighting them direct  
Now it uses methods  
Unheard of near and far  
Just when you think you've won  
There is one thing wrong  
Problem is, you're far too late  
For it is are already here.(1)"

A beautiful voice sung, becoming harsher and louder with each word until it pounded against Lilaya's skull. She dropped to her knees in pain, her hands clasped tightly over her ears and her fingers tugging at her hair. Tears stung her eyes as her head throbbed painfully and a presence of darkness draped over her, covering her shaking form like a frozen blanket.

_"HELP ME!"_ the unseen girl screamed again, sounding terrified.

And then it was over.

The horrible, nightmarish scene vanished, leaving a gasping, shaking blonde teen kneeling in the middle of the empty street, eyes wide with terror.

_"Four days,"_ the voice of Lithelacinth echoed softly in her mind, making Lilaya shake harder. _"Then you die. Which would be such a same, too. I have so many plans for you . . ."_

As soon as the echoing voice of the hooded girl Lilaya so feared faded from her mind, adrenaline kicked in. She staggered to her feet in fear, a thin stream of tears escaping from the corners of her eyes. Running in the direction of her house, Lilaya's feet pounded quickly against the sidewalk, trying to make it home.

She turned the corner in blind panic, gasping for breath as her lungs protested and burned from being out of shape, when she crashed full-force into something, sending her sprawling to the ground.

"Ouch!" a feminine voice moaned, but Lilaya felt like she couldn't talk. The blonde girl tried opening her eyes, only to be met with the distorted version of the sky, so she quickly shut them again, trying to ignore the throbbing in the back of her head, her elbow, and her tailbone.

"Hey, you okay there, blondie?"

Cracking a multi-colored eye open, Lilaya squinted at the . . . girls above her. Wait, no. There was only one now. The five identical brunettes that were above her melted into one person.

"Been better," Lilaya moaned in response, squeezing her eyes shut again before opening them back up. Propping herself up on her elbows, the beautiful fourteen-year old looked at the person she had crashed into.

The girl was pretty, with layered chocolate brown hair and soft features. A healthy tan colored her skin and her brown eyes were framed by glasses with thick black lenses that very few managed to pull off while still looking pretty. Apparently this girl was one of them. She looked around Lilaya's age, if not a bit younger.

"Sorry," Lilaya apologized, gingerly rubbing the back of her head with one hand.

"S'okay," the brunette in front of her stuttered, smiling awkwardly.

Lilaya opened her mouth to speak again, but ended up gaping when she saw what was clutched in the mystery girl's hand.

"Are those _daggers?" _Wickedly sharp, golden daggers, to be more precise. "What the heck?"

The was gaping at her now. "You can _see_ these?"

Lilaya gave the girl an _'are you stupid?'_ look. "No crap, Sherlock."

"Weird," the girl said, drawing out the word slowly. She looked Lilaya up and down strangely before giving her another awkward smile. "I'm Shazer, by the way."

"Lilaya," the blonde said shortly, slightly apprehensive about being in the presence of someone with golden hunting knives.

"Well, Lilaya, it was nice to meet you, but—" Shazer was cut off when a bone-chilling howl sounded from close by.

_"Maledic Tartara,_(1)_"_ Shazer hissed, narrowing her eyes. She turned back to Lilaya and seemed to be mentally debating something with herself. "You're coming with me," she finally decided firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument. Lunging forward, she snatched Lilaya's hand in a vice-like grip before jumping to her feet, pulling the blonde along with her as she took off down the street in the opposite direction of Lilaya's house.

"Stop!" Lilaya shouted, struggling to pull her hand free. "Where are you taking me? My house is the other way!"

"To a place called Camp Jupiter," Shazer bit back, looking nervous.

Lilaya tripped over her feet and would have fallen flat on her face if Shazer wasn't holding her wrist.

"It's in California. But right now a hellhound is chasing me and probably you, so we've got to go—_now_."

Far behind the running duo, a hooded girl in her late teens sat on a giant black dog the size of a dump truck with gleaming red eyes and huge, razor-sharp fangs.

She laughed lightly, the sound chilling anyone that would have heard it. A man in the house next to her that had the unfortunate fate of taking out the trash then looked at the girl on the giant black dog in fear, freezing on the spot. Whipping her head towards the man, her eyes glowed an eerie red under her hood and the man fell to the ground, dead, but with no visible injuries outside his body.

"Mortals," she sneered in disgust, her lip curling in distaste before she turned back to where the two girls had run off to, smiling cruelly. "Let the games begin."

* * *

A silence hung in the air, one that no soul dared to interrupt. The room was lit brightly, the giant chandelier hanging in the middle of the tall ceiling glinting with beautiful clear crystals. The walls and floor were in a medieval theme. In fact, the whole room looked like something snatched out of a fantasy novel.

Silver banners hung elegantly from the gray stone walls, the fabric shimmering beautifully in the light. Weapons of every kind, ranging from knives, to guns, to maces, and all others hung menacingly where the banners were not. The wide array of weapons all looked polished and sharpened to perfection.

Going down the middle of the floor was a royal red carpet with golden stitching. It stretched all the way from the wooden double doors at one end of the room to the large, regal throne at the other. In front of the throne was a short, long, wooden table holding strange objects. A line of small ragdolls lay on their backs, arranged neatly, looking eerily similar to live people. An array of wires sprouted from the very middle of the table before spreading out, curving into a circle when they reached their end. Sitting delicately inside the circle were what looked like giant bubbles, only they had what seemed to be moving pictures inside of them.

The throne itself was decorated in long, sharp spiked along the side, front, and back, while the seat area was cushioned comfortably. A menacing looking scythe was propped up against the back of the throne, gleaming in black and silver. What appeared to be dried blood decorated the blade and silver designs and words in unknown languages spiraled up the handle.

Sitting in the throne itself was a girl.

She appeared to be no older than twelve years old at the very most. Her slim figure was draped leisurely over the side of the chair, her legs resting between some of the large spikes. She wore no shoes on her feet, and she was very pale. What skin was shown was a milky white color. A small, spiky, black skirt started at her hips and ended halfway down her thighs. Frilly white petticoats that were just shorter than that rested under the black material, giving it shape. A tight, sleeveless black shirt covered her torso, a white skull on the front. Fingerless, fishnet gloves decorated her hands and went to just above her elbows. A ripped black ribbon was tied around one of her legs and wrapped around the pale skin from her ankle to her knee, where it was tied off into a large bow. A ripped, blue cloak hid her face from view and if she were standing up, it would swish around her knees.

She appeared completely content and relaxed. Every few seconds she would bring the large, multi-colored lollipop in her hand to her lips and lick it while thinking.

"Chrysaor," she said abruptly in a soft, musical voice. The sound echoed off the walls eerily. "Report on my new toys."

Immediately the doors swung open silently and a man that appeared to be in his early twenties stepped through, covered from head to toe in armor. What little skin did show was riddled in battle scars and was very tan. His footsteps echoed off the floor but were slightly muffled by the red carpet he walked upon as he approached the girl. He stopped several feet away and bowed on one knee while keeping his head lowered, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"I am afraid to say that one of them has broken again, my lady," he said formally, albeit nervous. The girl's violent mood swings were widely known and unfortunately common. Her small body packed an impossible amount of power, despite her frail appearance. She used her looks to an advantage when in battle, looking like a weak push-over so that her opponents would underestimate her. That was always the last mistake they ever made.

The girl uncaringly shrugged, making the armored man breath a soundless sigh of relief. "They tend to do that when tortured for several hours a day. How unfortunate, though. I was looking forward to doing something else today. Oh well, sometimes things don't go according to plan, correct?" Her lips stretched into a smile, showing off her perfect white teeth and vampire-like canines. "And what of the girls?"

Chrysaor swallowed thickly, keeping his head lowered in a show of submission. "The soldiers have failed, my lady. The plane had a rough landing, but the girls were able to land safely and are in Camp Jupiter as we speak."

Unexpectedly, the girl's grin grew wider. "Excellent," she said softly, sounding gleeful.

"M-my lady?" Chrysaor stuttered in shock, looking up at the small girl in shock.

The pre-teen gingerly and smoothly removed her legs from the side of her throne before delicately standing up, licking her lollipop before answering. "I never expected them to succeed, dear Chrysaor. Of course I knew they would fail. I am the one who called them back, tripped one, and mysteriously killed another, of course. I can't have some of my favorite pawns die yet. At least, not until I brutally murder the idiotic Valdez boy and the pathetic son of Hades." She sighed in an almost condescending way, her voice tinged with mock-scolding, "Gaea should have known better than to just accept that DiAngelo was unconscious, conveniently next to the Doors of Death. Who does she think even planted the idea in his brain to search for the Doors and close them himself?"

Chrysaor tried not to look too shocked upon hearing this news. Of course he knew that the girl in front of him was smart and could easily twist anyone the way she wanted, but some things still caught him by surprise.

The hooded girl's lips were twisted into a cruel smirk as she picked up a bubble from the table with her free hand, watching the images in it. "And now Peyton has visited him while he sleeps in the jar, so when he awakens he should be able to tell the daughter of Athena about Percy's poor, tortured sister, and she shall look for her while they are in Tartarus. Meanwhile, my dear spider friend will be stuck in her own web." The small girl collapsed on her throne in a fit of giggles. "It is a perfect plan, if I do say so myself."

Chrysaor didn't dare open his mouth to ask if she were sure things would end up that way. For one thing, she would probably become furious, and he would either end up with a strong slap on the face that would leave him dazed on the ground, or she would lose her temper and he would be stuck back in Tartarus. Again.

Also . . . She just had a way of knowing things. He envied her ability sometimes, having her powers remarkably like a Seer's.

He watched with eyes hidden behind a mask as the girl delicately set the bubble-like device down, that he knew was purely magic. Another ability that was incredibly useful for her.

The girl floundered back over to her throne and sat down, looking like an avenging princess. One of her arms rested lightly on the armrests while the other that was holding her lollipop was propped up by her elbow.

"Begin phase two," she commanded, taking another lick of the sweet in her hand.

"Shall anyone die before they reach their destination?" Chrysaor asked, standing up.

The small, pale girl seemed to consider this, taking another lick of the treat and hesitated before answering. "Not yet. I need them all to be there when they free Peyton from her prison." Her eyes glowed a menacing red under her hood. "After all, we need all of of them there for the Gathering. The small Lilaya girl must be the one to make the mistake that will end her friend's lives. She has the biggest weakness out of all of them. The most prominent fatal flaw."

Chrysaor gave a curt nod before turning on his heel and quickly heading for the exit.

"Oh, and dear Chrysaor?" the girl asked in an innocent voice that instantly made him freeze in his tracks.

The armored man turned to show the girl she had his full attention.

A cruel smile was curved at her lips that made him tense.

"You may call me Lithelacinth when it is just us two, you know. We are _siblings_, after all. Even if you got the more pathetic father. Be kind to your big sissy, will you? You're breaking my heart."

Chrysaor swallowed nervously but tried to keep his voice light when he spoke. He didn't need to have any special talents to know that when his half-sister spoke, she was mocking him. It was as if she had two personalities sometimes. On one hand she could be incredibly kind towards those she cared about, and on the other, she was a vicious killer and didn't care who she damaged. "I shall do that from now on, if that is what you wish."

The son of Medusa swiftly finished his exit through the large doors, his elder sister's cruel laugh echoing behind him.

"We—need—to—stop!" Lilaya wheezed, running after the brunette in front of her. Her mind was at war while she was trying to run longer and faster than she had ever done before in her short teenage years.

_Why are we following her again?_

_Because she's nice. And I don't want to die._

_Well, you should have thought about that before you decided to follow the possible murderous sociopath with dangerous weapons on her persona._

_I trust her._

_Ah, what a great argument. "I trust her." Should I remind you that you have horrible judgment? You trust the people you should not and vice versa!_

_Hey! Why are you criticizing me?! We're the same person!_

_. . . Riiiiiiight. Whatever helps you sleep at night._

_Hey! What is that suppose to mean?!_

_Just pay attention to where you're running. Look—airport!_

Lilaya stopped the mental argument with herself and actually started to pay attention to where she was. To her shock, it was a small airfield that she had never seen before. Her lungs ached and burned, making her feel like she was ready to collapse, and sweat poured down the sides of her face, making her hair stick to her skin.

There was only one airplane parked on the runway, and it appeared to be getting ready for takeoff.

"Can—we—please—slow—down?" Lilaya managed to pant out weakly. Her legs were shaking badly and she just wanted to pass out. It felt as though a giant elephant was sitting on her chest.

"No," Shazer—if that was her real name—said back. The brunette looked tired as well. She was sweating, although not as much as Lilaya, and her breaths were coming out in short pants. "Danger always comes when you think you are safe."

Lilaya mentally raised an eyebrow, since she was too tired to do it physically. It sounded like Shazer had quoted that from someone. Or it could just be her exhaustion talking. Or her lightheadedness. Or the trauma.

While the blonde was preoccupied with her thoughts, Shazer chanced a glance back at the girl and saw that her eyes were slightly glazed over, showing that her mind was somewhere else. Grabbing her wrist as gently as she could while still having a firm grip on it, Shazer dragged Lilaya to the opening of the plane and quickly climbed inside.

"Go, now!" Shazer shouted, making the few passengers that were on the ship look up from what they were doing and blink at her in surprise.

_"Alright, passengers,"_ a male voice came on the intercom. _"Please buckle up until further notice. Make sure you luggage is secure. We'll be making a short stop to drop off a VIP passenger. The delay will only be an hour."  
_  
A few people murmured in complaint but still did as told.

Legs shaking, Shazer lead a Lilaya to the back of the plane where rows of empty seats awaited. Her legs as well as the blonde's collapsed as soon as they reached the chairs. Shazer sat by a window across from Lilaya who was sitting in the opposite seat. The blonde's multi-colored eyes were dropping in fatigue and her head was falling to the side.

While Lilaya tried to futilely fight off sleep, Shazer leaned back in her own chair in thought and took deep breaths to calm her breathing and heart rate. Reaching a hand up, she deftly took off her glasses and set them in her lap so that they wouldn't fall off her face while she slept. Normally the brunette preferred to be awake to fight if the situation called for it, but there was no way she could stay up right now.

Shazer's mind hazily drifted off in thought. She had her doubts, of course, about the Lilaya girl being a mortal that could see through the mist, but her Guardian reassured her that Lilaya was a demigod. And a special one at that. To tell the truth, Shazer hadn't even known there was such a thing as a clear-sighted mortal until the night she had the dream about it. Shazer dozed off dreaming…

.

.

"—again, Shazer."

The brunette teen blinked rapidly, trying to remove the white spots from her vision. "W—where—?"

"You're in my landscape, of course~!" a familiar voice practically sung, sounding gleeful.

As Shazer's vision cleared, her brown eyes were met with something she wasn't expecting to see.

She was in a classroom. Her fourth grade classroom, to be exact. The twenty-three desks—including the one she was sitting in—were set up exactly as she remembered them. Crude drawings both painted, drawn, colored, and scribbled were hanging proudly from the walls. A whiteboard faced the desks that were set up in neat rows, along with the teacher's desk that had an assortment of trinkets set neatly upon the desk. Instead of the teacher's desk being empty, however, there was a small, pale figure sitting on the soft chair.

The girl's feet were resting on the desk with her ankles crossed, showing off the gray, soft-looking ankle boots. Black leggings encased the slim legs that lead to an over-sized sweatshirt that covered the girl's torso. The sleeves were rolled up to her wrists to fit, and the rim of a baseball cap peeked out from under the drawn hood. The skin that was visible on the girl was incredibly pale, including her lips, which were tinged an unnerving blue color.

"Wh—who are—who are you?" Shazer stuttered, scared out of her mind. The person lounging behind her old teacher's desk looked dead as a door nail and wasn't moving. "Hello . . . ?" she called hesitantly, hoping to get a reaction out of the limp figure.

"What's wrong, Shazer?" the girl suddenly asked, making the demigod jump in her seat and hit her knees on the desk. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Don't tell me you've forgotten about me already, have you?"

"P—Peyton?" she stuttered out in disbelief, eyes wide behind her glasses.

The pale, blue-tinged lips stretched into a grin, showing off a row of white, straight teeth. "The one and only. I told you I'd keep an eye on you, didn't I?"

Shazer blinked in surprise. "I—I guess . . ." she offered feebly. "I mean, I don't exactly . . . I don't think I remember that . . ."

_I didn't think you were serious,_ she thought numbly, but it was left unsaid.

"Huh, really?" Peyton mused, the grin slipping off her face. She took her feet off the desk and sat up straighter before pulling a small diary-looking book that said PLANZ on the cover off the top of the desk, opening it, and flipping through the pages. "Hmm. I guess I meant to tell someone else that . . . No matter!" Her cheery mood was back up and she cheerfully placed the book back onto the desk. Standing up from the comfortable chair she was in, Peyton walked around the desk and to the whiteboard. She picked up an erasable marker and started writing in neat, curvy handwriting while Shazer tried to process what was going on.

"Why are we here again?" she asked shyly, looking around. As her eyes met her outfit she was surprised that she was still in her pajamas which consisted of gray sweatpants and a faded blue t-shirt. She also probably had a bad case of bedhead. The brunette's cheeks turned a dark shade of red and she snapped her attention back up to the ghost-like person that had just finished writing on the board. Peyton looked at her writing, nodded in what the demigod thought to be acceptance, and took a step to the side before facing Shazer.

_The Difference Between Monsters, Mortals, and Demigods_ was written in black marker on the board.

"Tonight I am going to teach you about the differences between monsters, mortals, and demigods," Peyton said, sounding professional. "As you may or may not be aware, some mortals are what we refer to as clear-sighted, or are able to see through the mist. This ability is rare however but when it occurs they can see through the mist better than most demigods."

"Mortals can see through the mist?" Shazer asked in clear shock.

Peyton turned to face her and Shazer could practically feel the amusement in her eyes, even though they weren't visible.

"Yes," she said, sounding like she was about to dive into something important, making the daughter of Neptune unconsciously straighten. "The trick is being able to tell the difference between someone who can just see through the mist and a demigod that is being hunted." Peyton paused and casually leaned against the whiteboard. "In reality, only monsters, gods, satyrs, centaurs, and nymphs can tell the difference."

A wave of confusion hit Shazer like a freight train. "Then why are you telling me this?"

Peyton's blue-tinged lips pressed into a thin line. "In exactly six weeks, you will be going home to Texas."

"How did you—?"

"During that time, you will run into a girl named Lilaya Winters. Pretty girl, really. Sweet and naive, knows nothing about the gods."

"What does she have to do with—?" Shazer didn't get to finish once again as Peyton cut her off.

"Protect her."

Shazer blinked dumbly. "Huh?"

"Protect her," Peyton repeated, an aura of seriousness radiating off of her in waves. "This girl will be a demigod. Take her back to your camp and keep her safe. She will be hunted by the worst villain to possibly walk this earth."

"B—but I don't know if I can even go back home!" Shazer stuttered. The feeling of the weight of the world rested on her shoulders and she didn't know how to react. "The Greeks are coming and—"

"Shazer!" Peyton snapped, making the demigoddess jump and stare at the hooded girl with eyes wide in shock. "Do as I say! It is essential that you take that girl with you and have her meet Leo Valdez! Do not disobey me! I am not ordering you to do this for myself, but for the good of everyone. Understand me, Sh—

.

.

—azer!" Lilaya said, panicked. Her eyes were wide with fear and her body trembled.

"Yeah blondie?" Shazer asked, words slurred from sleep as she tried to pull herself out of the sleepy haze she had fallen into. She grabbed her glasses off her lap and slipped them back over her eyes. _That memory . . .  
_  
"Wh—wh—what are those?" Lilaya stammered, pointing at something behind her.

Tensing in anticipation, Shazer reached for one of her daggers and felt secure when the ancient metal pressed into her hand. Turning around, she was met with a sight she definitely didn't want to see.

Shimmering shapes that looked as though they were made of wind and were in the shape of both people and horses alike stood there, lightning occasionally crackling around them.

"Maledic Tartara! Those are Venti," Shazer muttered under her breath. "Storm spirits," she said in a louder voice so that Lilaya could hear her without worry.

One of the Venti grinned maliciously.

"What do they want?" Lilaya asked, dread filling her. _Please, let this all be a bad dream. C'mon, Lilaya! Wake up already!_

"To kill us," Shazer retorted shakily, mentally counting them. _We don't stand a chance. There's at least six of them and only two of us. Not to mention the girl probably doesn't even know how to fight . . ._ "We don't have a choice—we'll have to fight them," Shazer said, her knuckled turning white from the force she was gripping her dagger with.

"There are six of them and two of us and I'm not armed," Lilaya pointed out, looking as though she was about to cry. Her eyes were misted over in fear and her face was pale.

"Use one of my daggers," Shazer said, quickly handing Lilaya a gleaming gold blade with her free hand, not taking her eyes off of the monsters. "Be careful," she warned, "but if you hit them just right you can return them to Tartarus."

"Tartarus?" Lilaya squeaked, her hands shaking as she held the knife.

"No time!" Shazer bit out impatiently, tensing her legs. "Just stab!"

With that the two girls rushed at their opponents, trying to get the upper hand.

_Peyton please help me,_ Shazer thought for a fleeting moment as the Venti got closer.

One vanished into thin air just as Lilaya ran at it, making the blonde run straight into a row of seats and topple over. Another ran at Shazer but it tripped and she ran through it with her dagger.

_Something isn't right here,_ Shazer thought, furrowing her brow. _I didn't think it was possible for Venti to trip._

Lilaya picked herself up from the ground, the blonde demigoddess noticing that the so-called "Venti" were looking hesitant now, almost afraid.

Lilaya hesitated and voiced her thoughts, asking: "Do they always vanish like this?"

"No," said Shazer as she ran at another one. "This is really unusual! In fact it's making me nervous."

Suddenly, just as Shazer got within stabbing distance of the Venti, it dissolved into golden powder all by itself.

"Oh my gods . . ." she whispered to herself, eyes wide. The first few instances could be counted as coincidence, but this was not normal in the slightest. "What in Hades name is happening?"

"How did you do that?" Lilaya asked, voice tinged in awe.

"I didn't and if you didn't . . ." Shazer trailed off and then thought to herself. _Was it . . . ? No . . . But who else could it be other than Peyton?_

Remembering that there were still a few enemies left, Shazer quickly turned to face the Venti, only to be met with . . . nothing.

"Where'd they go?" Lilaya muttered in confusion, brow furrowed. Her blonde hair was dusted lightly with golden powder and a few flakes were on her clothes. Shazer could only imagine what she must look like.

"I—I actually don't know," Shazer confessed, biting her lip in a worried motion. If Percy, Jason, Jake, or Nico were here, they would know, she thought, gripping the fabric of her shirt tightly in hand.

"Shaze, darling, we'll be landing in around ten minutes, so get yourself ready." The pilot's voice came from the loudspeakers and made the girl's look at where the noise was coming from.

"That's our cue," the brunette daughter of Neptune said, clipping her knife back into the strap. "Get ready to see Camp Jupiter."

* * *

The raven haired teen sighed as his eyes scanned the once proud and marvelous area of Camp Jupiter. Its once grand sight was now a ruined wasteland. Craters dotted the grounds, the remnants of buildings were strewn about, and dirt and blood streaks were smeared randomly on walls and the grounds.

Stuffing his hands into his dark jean pockets, the son of Pluto kicked a stray brick and watched it skid across the ground.

"This is going to be _infernus_ to pick up," he sighed, posture relaxed. "The Greeks have really done themselves in now."

"Josh!" a girlish voice yelled, drawing out his name.

The teenage boy tensed and closed his eyes, a vein throbbing in his forehead. _Count to ten . . . Count to ten . . ._

A slim arm snaked around his own and a body pressed into his side. Eye twitching in annoyance, Josh turned his unique eyes to the figure who was clinging to him like a lifeline.

The daughter of Venus had long, curly brown hair, big blue eyes, and her features were outlined in makeup. She was undeniably beautiful but had a personality that cancelled out her image.

"I'm so glad you are okay," she practically purred, batting her eyelashes at him. The raven haired boy fought down a shiver—and not a pleasant one. "When those awful Greeks attacked us, I thought you were hurt."

_Yeah right,_ he thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Look, Luisaidh," he said, gently pushing her off of his arm. _Get the heck away from me!_ "You are a very nice girl and all but I told you already: I have someone else."

Her pretty features morphed into a scowl. "You keep telling all the girls that. You don't hit on anyone but you say that you already have a girlfriend. Are you just insecure?"

Josh sighed and resisted the urge to pull out his hair. "Luisaidh, you'll meet her soon, alright? Just leave me alone. I won't date you, so just get over it."

Huffing, the daughter of Venus crossed her arms stubbornly and stomped her foot like a child. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, she was cut off by someone else.

"Leave 'im alone, Lu," Claudia said, coming over. The legacy of Apollo's caramel colored hair was tied back into a short high ponytail and her bright green eyes were outlined in eyeliner. She was wearing worker's clothes, down to the suspenders and gloves. "Let's go bug Angelo instead, yeah? Lover boy 'ere already 'as a lady friend."

Josh could have hugged her.

Without waiting for a response from the indignant daughter of Venus, the legacy of Apollo grabbed her friends arm and dragged her away.

"Nice talking with you, JoJo!" Claudia called, grinning widely before she disappeared from view.

_Finally, some piece and quiet,_ the raven haired boy thought in relief, dragging a hand through his dark locks. Humming, he walked along, mentally drawing plans for what the people who chose to stay behind should fix first, carefully analyzing everything.

"Josh?" a female voice came from behind him.

Feeling irritation swell inside of him, the son of Pluto turned to address who had called his name, only to freeze in shock. "Shazer?"

His brunette friend had tear tracks on her face and her eyes were tinged red. "Who did this?"

The boy frowned, not wanting to be the one to tell his gentle friend the news. "Something went down with the Greeks. They fired from a massive ship, and, well . . ." He watched his friend closely as she bowed her head, her hair shadowing her eyes and fists clenching.

"They'll pay," she whispered, voice distraught but filled with determination. Her head snapped up, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "I swear they'll pay for what they've done to our home!"

Josh's eyes widened in slight alarm, not use to seeing his friend so unhinged. "Wow, wow, wow! Slow down there, Shaze. I'm not sure exactly what happened but the Greeks didn't seem like ones to fire at us because we spilled milk on their togas. They were pretty mellow as far as I could tell, so let's not jump ahead, okay?"

The brunette hesitated before nodding reluctantly and that's when Josh noticed the awkward-looking blonde girl standing off to the side of the daughter of Neptune.

"And who are you?" he questioned politely.

"Lilaya," Shazer said, cutting the mystery girl off before the blonde had a chance to speak. "Demigod, unknown parentage. Now fill me in on what happened here, then we need to leave."

Josh's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Leave where?"

Shazer's brown eyes flashed blue and hardened in determination. "We're going to confront some Greeks."

"Stop." Percy's skin felt washed with ice. "We have to stop."

"Why?" Annabeth asked.

"Leo, stop!" he yelled.

Too late. The other boat appeared out of the fog and rammed them head-on. In that split second, Percy registered random details: another trireme; black sails painted with a gorgon's head and the letters LITHE underneath; hulking warriors, not quite human, crowded at the front of the boat in Greek armor, swords and spears ready; and a bronze ram at water level, slamming against the hull of the_Agro II._

Annabeth and Percy were almost thrown overboard.

Festus blew fire, sending a dozen very surprised warriors screaming and diving into the sea, but more swarmed aboard the Argo _II._ Grappling lines wrapped around the rails and the mast, digging iron claws into the hull's planks.

By the time Percy had recovered his wits, the enemy was everywhere. He couldn't see well through the fog and the dark, but the invaders seemed to be humanlike dolphins, or dolphinlike humans. Some had gray snouts. Others held their swords in stunted flippers. Some waddled on legs partially fused together, while others had flippers for feet, which reminded Percy of clown shoes.

Leo sounded the alarm bell. He made a dash for the nearest ballista but went down under a pile of chattering dolphin warriors.

Annabeth and Percy stood back-to-back, as they'd done many times before, their weapons drawn. Percy tried to summon the waves, hoping he could push the ships apart or even capsize the enemy vessel, but nothing happened. It almost felt like something was pushing against his will, wresting the sea from his control.

He raised Riptide, ready to fight, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. Several dozen warriors lowered their spears and made a ring around them, wisely keeping out of striking distance of Percy's sword. The dolphin-men opened their snouts and made whistling, popping noises. Percy had never considered just how vicious dolphin teeth looked.

He tried to think. Maybe he could break out of the circle and destroy a few invaders, but not without the others skewering him and Annabeth.

At least the warriors didn't seem interested in killing them immediately. They kept Percy and Annabeth contained while more of their comrades flooded belowdecks and secured the hull. Percy could hear them breaking down the cabin doors, scuffling with his friends. Even if the other demigods hadn't been fast asleep, they wouldn't have stood a chance against so many enemies.

Leo was dragged across the deck, half-conscious and groaning, and dumped on a pile of ropes. Below, the sounds of fighting tapered off. Either the others had been subdued or . . .

_Or killed,_ a female voice giggled in his mind, causing his thoughts and movements to freeze. That voice . . . Where had he heard it before? An ache bloomed in the back of his head and dizzied him for a moment, like a memory was trying to resurface. That didn't make sense, though. He had gained all of his memories already.

Right?

When Percy snapped out of his thoughts, he noticed that on one side of the ring of spears, the dolphin warriors parted to let someone through. He appeared to be fully human, but from the way the dolphins fell back before him, he was clearly the leader. He was dressed in Greek combat armor—sandals, kilt, and greaves, a breastplate decorated with elaborate sea monster designs—and everything he wore was gold. Even his sword, a Greek blade like Riptide, was gold instead of bronze.

The golden boy, Percy thought, remembering his dream. They'll have to get past the golden boy.

What really made Percy nervous was the guy's helmet. His visor was a full face mask fashioned like a gorgon's head—curved tusks, horrible features pinched into a snarl, and golden snake hair curling around the face. Percy had met gorgons before. The likeness was good—a little too good for his taste.

A female child's giggle sounded from inside his head again—the same voice as before. _Good luck, demigod son of Poseidon._

Annabeth turned so she was shoulder to shoulder with Percy. He wanted to put his arm around her protectively, but he doubted she'd appreciate the gesture, and he didn't want to give this golden guy any indication that Annabeth was his girlfriend. No sense giving the enemy more leverage than they already had.

"Who are you?" Percy demanded. "What do you want?"

The golden warrior chuckled. With a flick of his blade, faster than Percy could follow, he smacked Riptide out of Percy's hand and sent it flying into the sea.

He might as well have thrown Percy's lungs into the sea, because suddenly Percy couldn't breathe. He'd never been disarmed so easily.

"Hello, brother." The golden warrior's voice was rich and velvety, with an exotic accent—Middle Eastern, maybe—that seemed vaguely familiar. "Always happy to rob a fellow son of Poseidon. I am Chrysaor, the Golden Sword. As for what I want . . ." He turned his metal mask toward Annabeth. "Well, that's easy. I want everything you have."

Percy's heart did jumping jacks while Chrysaor walked back and forth, inspecting them like prized cattle. A dozen of his dolphin-man warriors stayed in a ring around them, spears leveled at Percy's chest, while dozens more ransacked the ship, banging and crashing around belowdecks. One carried a box of ambrosia up the stairs. Another carried an armful of ballista bolts and a crate of Greek fire.

"Careful with that!" Annabeth warned. "It'll blow up both our ships."

"Ha!" Chrysaor said. "We know all about Greek fire, girl. Don't worry. We've been looting and pillaging ships on the Mare Nostrum for eons. Not to mention certain jobs I overtake require me to handle deadly things." _Like Lithe, for example . . ._ he thought but left it unsaid. His foolish half-brother wouldn't have known what he was talking about anyway.

"Your accent sounds familiar," Percy said. "Have we met?"

"I haven't had the pleasure." Chrysaor's golden gorgon mask snarled at him, though it was impossible to tell what his real expression might be underneath. "But I've heard all about you, Percy Jackson. Oh, yes, the young man who saved Olympus. And his faithful sidekick, Annabeth Chase."

"I'm nobody's sidekick," Annabeth growled. "And, Percy, his accent sounds familiar because he sounds like his mother. We killed her in New Jersey."

Percy frowned. "I'm pretty sure that accent isn't New Jersey. Who's his—? Oh."

It all fell into place. Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium—the lair of Medusa. She'd talked with that same accent, at least until Percy had cut off her head.

"_Medusa_ is your mom?" he asked. "Dude, that sucks for you."

The female voice in Percy's head growled and judging by the sound in Chrysaor's throat, he was now snarling under his mask, too.

"You are as arrogant as the _first_ Perseus," Chrysaor said. "But, yes, Percy Jackson. Poseidon was my father. Medusa was my mother. After Medusa was changed into a monster by that so-called goddess of wisdom . . ." A note of irony painted his voice. The golden mask turned on Annabeth. "That would be _your_ mother, I believe . . . Medusa's two children were trapped inside her, unable to be born. When the original Perseus cut off Medusa's head—"

"Two children sprang out," Annabeth remembered. "Pegasus and you."

Percy blinked. "So your brother is a winged horse. But you're also my half brother, which means all the flying horses in the world are my . . . You know what? Let's forget it."

He'd learned years ago it was better not to dwell too much on who was related to whom on the godly side of things. After Tyson the Cyclops adopted him as a brother, Percy decided that that was about as far as he wanted to extend the family.

"But if you're Medusa's kid," he said, "why haven't I ever heard of you?"

Chrysaor sighed in exasperation. "When your brother is Pegasus and your sister is a Titan/God-feared being, you get used to being ignored. Oh, look, a winged horse! Does anyone care about me? No!" He raised the tip of his blade to Percy's eyes. "But don't underestimate me. My name means golden sword for a reason."

"Imperial gold?" Percy guessed.

"Bah! _Enchanted_ gold, yes. Later on, the Romans called it Imperial gold, but I was the first to ever wield such a blade. I should have been the most famous hero of all time! Since the legend-tellers decided to ignore me, I became a villain instead. I resolved to put my heritage to use. As the son of Medusa, I would inspire terror. As the son of Poseidon, I would rule the seas!"

"You became a pirate," Annabeth summed up, sounding thoughtful.

Chrysaor spread his arms, which was fine with Percy since it got the sword point away from his eyes.

"The _best_ pirate," Chrysaor said. "I've sailed these waters for centuries, waylaying any demigods foolish enough to explore the Mare Nostrum. This is my territory now. And all you have is mine."

One of the dolphin warriors dragged Coach Hedge up from below.

"Let me go, you tuna fish!" Hedge bellowed. He ried to kick the warrior, but his hoof clanged off his captor's armor. Judging from the hoof-shaped prints in the dolphin's breastplate and helmet, the coach had already made several attempts.

"Ah, a satry," Chrysaor mused. "A little old and stringy, but Cyclopes will pay well for a morsel like him. Chain him up."

"I'm nobody's goat meat!" Hedge protested.

"Gag him as well," Chrysaor decided.

"Why you gilded little—" Hedge's insult was cut short when the dolphin put a greasy wad of canvas in his mouth. Soon the coach was trussed like a rodeo calf and dumped with the other loot—crates of food, extra weapons, even the magical ice chest from the mess hall.

"You can't do this!" Annabeth shouted.

Chrysaor's laughter reverberated inside his gold face mask. Percy wondered if he was horribly disfigured under there, or if his gaze could petrify people the way his mother's could.

"I can do anything I want," Chrysaor said. "My warriors have been trained to perfection. They are vicious, cutthroat—"

"Dolphins," Percy noted.

Chrysaor shrugged. "Yes. So? They had some bad luck a few millennia ago, kidnapped the wrong person. Some of their crew got turned _completely_ into dolphins. Others went mad. But these . . . these survived as a hybrid creatures. When I found them under the sea and offered them a new life, they became my loyal crew. They fear nothing!"

One of the warriors chattered at him nervously.

"Yes, yes," Chrysaor growled. "They fear _one_ thing, but it hardly matters. He's not here."

An idea began tickling at the base of Percy's skull. Before he could pursue it, more dolphin warriors climbed the stairs, hauling up the rest of his friends. Jason was unconscious. Judging from the new bruises on his face, he'd tried to fight. Hazel and Piper were bound hand and foot. Piper had a gag in her mouth, so apparently the dolphins had discovered she could charmspeak. Frank was the only one missing, though two of the dolphins had bee stings covering their faces.

Could Frank actually turn into a swarm of bees? Percy hoped so. If he was free aboard the ship somewhere, that could be an advantage, assuming Percy could figure out how to communicate with him.

"Excellent!" Chrysaor gloated. He directed his warriors to dump Jason by the crossbows. Then he examined the girls like they were Christmas presents, which made Percy grit his teeth.

"The boy is no use to me," Chrysaor said. "But we have an understanding with the witch Circe. She will buy the women—either as slaves or trainees, depending on their skill. But not you, lovely Annabeth."

Annabeth recoiled. "You are _not_ taking me anywhere."

Percy's hand crept to his pocket. His pen had appeared back in his jeans. He only needed a moment's distraction to draw his sword. Maybe if he could take down Chrysaor quickly, his crew would panic.

He wished he knew something about Chrysaor's weaknesses. Usually Annabeth provided him with information like that, but apparently Chrysaor didn't _have_ any legends, so they were both in the dark.

The golden warrior tutted. "Oh, sadly, Annabeth, you will not be staying with me. I would love that. But you and your friend Percy are spoken for. A certain goddess is paying a high bounty for your capture—alive, if possible, though she didn't say you had to be unharmed."

At that moment, Piper caused the disturbance they needed. She wailed so loudly it could be heard through her gag. Then she fainted against the nearest guard, knocking him over. Hazel got the idea and crumpled to the deck, kicking her legs and thrashing like she was having a fit.

Percy drew Riptide and lashed out. The blade should have gone straight through Chrysaor's neck, but the golden warrior was unbelievably fast. He dodged and parried as the dolphin warriors backed up, guarding the other captives while giving their captain room to battle. They chattered and squeaked, egging him on, and Percy got the sinking suspicion the crew was used to this sort of entertainment. They didn't feel their leader was in any sort of danger.

_That's because Chrysaor is undefeated,_ the voice whispered in his mind, sounding amused. Percy tensed. In the past it was never good to have some godly being whisper things in your head, because it usually ended with your life on the line.

Percy hadn't crossed swords with an opponent like this since . . . well, since he'd battled the war god Ares. Chrysaor was _that_ good. Many of Percy's powers had gotten stronger over the years, but now, too late, Percy realized that swordplay wasn't one of them.

He was rusty—at least against an adversary like Chrysaor.

They battled back and forth, thrusting and parrying. Without meaning to, Percy heard the voice of Luke Castellan, his first sword-fighting mentor at Camp Half-Blood, throwing out suggestions. But the giggling female voice in his head cancelled it out.

The golden gorgon mask was too unnerving as well. The warm fog, the slick deck boards, the chattering of the warriors—none of it helped. And in the corner of his eye, Percy could see one of the dolphin-men holding a knife at Annabeth's throat in case she tried anything tricky.

He feinted and thrust at Chrysaor's gut, but Chrysaor anticipated the move. He knocked Percy's sword out of his hand again, and once more Riptide flew into the sea.

Chrysaor laughed easily. He wasn't even winded. He pressed the rip of his golden sword against Percy's sternum.

"A good try," said the pirate. "But now you'll be chained and transported to Gaea's minions. They are quite eager to spill your blood and wake the goddess."

Well, nothing like total failure to generate good ideas.

As Percy stood there, disarmed an outmatched, the plan formed in his head. He was so used to Annabeth providing Greek legend information that he was kind of sunned to actually remember something useful, but he _had_ to act fast. He couldn't let anything happen to his friends. He wasn't going to lose Annabeth—not again.

Chrysaor couldn't be beat. (_You finally noticed?_ the female voice quipped sarcastically in his head.) At least not at single combat. But without his crew . . . maybe then he could be over-whelmed if enough demigods attacked him at once.

How to deal with Chrysaor's crew? Percy put the pieces together: the pirates had been turned into dolphin-men millennia ago when they had kidnapped the wrong person. Percy _knew_ that story. Heck, the wrong person in question had threatened to turn _him_ into a dolphin. And when Chrysaor said the crew wasn't afraid of anything, one of the dolphins had nervously corrected him. _Yes,_ Chrysaor said. _But he's not here._

Percy glanced toward the stern and spotted Frank, in human form, peeking out from behind a ballista, waiting. Percy resisted the urge to smile. The big guy claimed to be clumsy and useless, but he always seemed to be in exactly the right place when Percy needed him.

The girls . . . Frank . . . the ice chest.

The female voice cursed in his head.

It was a crazy idea. But, as usual, that's all Percy had.

"Fine!" Percy shouted, so loudly that he got everyone's attention. "Take us away, if our captain will let you."

Chrysaor turned his golden mask. "What captain? My men searched the ship. There is no one else."

Percy raised his hands dramatically. "The god appears only when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our camp for demigods. Doesn't he, Annabeth?"

Annabeth was quick. "Yes!" She nodded enthusiastically. "Mr. D! The great Dionysus!"

A ripple of uneasiness passed through the dolphin-men. One dropped his sword.

"Stand fast!" Chrysaor bellowed. "There is no god on this ship. They are trying to scare you."

"You should be scared!" Percy looked at the pirate crew with sympathy. "Dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girls falling into the wine god's madness?"

Hazel and Piper had stopped the shaking fits. They were sitting on the deck, staring at Percy, but when he glared at them pointedly, they started hamming it up again, trembling and flopping around like fish. The dolphin-men fell over themselves trying to get away from their captives.

"Fakes!" Chrysaor roared. "Shut up, Percy Jackson. Your camp director is not here. He was recalled to Olympus. This is common knowledge."

"So you admit Dionysus is our director!" Percy said.

"He _was_," Chrysaor corrected. "Everyone knows that."

Percy gestured at the golden warrior like he'd just betrayed himself. "You see? We are doomed. If you don't believe me, let's check the ice chest!"

The voice in his head was cursing more than a horse. Percy stormed over to the magical cooler. No one tried to stop him. He knocked open the lid and rummaged through the ice. There had to be one. Please. He was rewarded with a silver-and-red can of soda. He brandished it at the dolphin warriors as if spraying them with bug repellent.

"Behold!" Percy shouted. "The god's chosen beverage. Tremble before the horror of Diet Coke!"

The dolphin-men began to panic. They were on the edge of retreat. Percy could feel it.

"The god will take your ship," Percy warned. "He will finish your transformation into dolphins, or make you insane, or transform you into insane dolphins! Your only hope is to swim away now, quickly!"

"Ridiculous!" Chrysaor's voice turned shrill. He didn't seem sure where to level his sword—at Percy or his own crew.

"Save yourselves!" Percy warned. "It is too late for us!"

Then he gasped and pointed to the spot where Frank was hiding. "Oh, no! Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!"

Nothing happened.

"I _said_," Percy repeated, "Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!"

Frank stumbled out of nowhere, making a big show of grabbing his throat. "Oh, no," he said, like he was reading from a teleprompter. "I am turning into a crazy dolphin."

He began to change, his nose elongating into a snout, his skin becoming sleek and gray. He fell to the deck as a dolphin, his tail thumping against the boards.

The pirate crew disbanded in terror, chattering and clicking as they dropped their weapons, forgot the captives, ignored Chrysaor's orders, and jumped overboard. In the confusion, Annabeth moved quickly to cut the bonds on Hazel, Piper, and Coach Hedge.

Within seconds, Chrysaor was alone and surrounded. Percy and his friends had no weapons except for Annabeth's knife and Hedge's hooves, but the murderous looks on their faces evidently convinced the golden warrior he was doomed.

He backed near the edge of the rail.

"This isn't over, Jackson," Chrysaor growled. "I will have my revenge—"

His words were cut short by Frank, who had changed form again. An eight-hundred-pound grizzly bear can definitely break up a conversation. He moved to side-sweep Chrysaor, but that's where things went wrong.

_NO!_ the voice screeched inside Percy's head, giving him a throbbing headache.

A form flickered to existence in front of the golden warrior, like a fuzzy projection focusing before it solidified. It was a cloaked person shorter than Chrysaor, but they had their arms spread out as if to protect him and their feet braced on the floor. Frank's razer-sharp claws raked the mystery person's face, the hood falling from their face in the process.

Frank stumbled backward in shock and turned back into his human form while the other demigods were frozen in place.

Blood dripped down onto the deck, and Chrysoar was shaking.

"Lithe," he said, sounding as shocked as the demigods.

It was a girl. As short as she was, she couldn't have been older than thirteen. A ripped black cloak was on her shoulders, bandages were wrapped around her feet to her knees and wrists to elbows. A black Lolita dress went a few inches above her knees. Her skin was extremely pale and if she held still, Percy would have thought she was dead. The girl's head was bent so that her inky black hair covered her face.

"Oh, Chrysaor," she said, sounding exasperated. "What am I going to do with you?"

She brought her head up, revealing a face that was wrapped in bandages as well, half of them shredded where Frank had attacked. Only her glowing red eyes were visible.

Lithe relaxed her position so that looked casual. "Hello, Perseus Jackson. My name is Lithelacinth. I will be your opponent."

Lynzee sighed as she picked up another piece of firewood to pile into her arms. It was her turn to collect the wood tonight while a few others hunted for dinner. Thalia was directing everyone while Artemis was away for another emergency meeting on Olympus. Several of their Huntresses were badly injured from the battle at New Rome just a few days ago. Now everything was in chaos.

New Rome had cut off the temporary truce with the Greeks that hadn't even lasted a day after Percy Jackson had lead them to victory and defeated the giant with the help of the statue god, whatever his name was. Lynzee had joined the Hunt to get away from all the drama and horrid memories, but they were now coming back to bite her like a vengeful marmoset(1).

Perseus Jackson . . . Lynzee had heard the rumors, of course. The rumors which whispered that the great, too-many-titles Perseus Jackson had forgotten the sister that literally gave her life for him.

As a normal reaction to someone having met the hero-complex son of Poseidon, Lynzee's reaction was immediate.

Who, him? she had thought in disbelief. Yeah, and Olympus will fall within the next three years. Percy could never forget his sister! He doesn't forget anyone he wants to protect.

And then she met him.

As Percy entertained both the Huntresses and the Romans with his tales of the quest he went on, Lynzee cut in when he paused in his tale.

"What about Peyton?" she asked, gut twisting in guilt. She felt horrible of how she use to treat the daughter of Poseidon, and wanted to make amends. The Huntresses hadn't heard that the hood-wearing girl had suffered such a tragic fate as of yet.

The son of Poseidon/Neptune blinked in mystification. "Who?"

"Peyton," she verified, a horrible feeling twisting inside her. "Peyton Shahar. You know, you're sister?"

Murmurs rippled through Percy's crowd of admirers.

"I'm sorry." Percy gave her a confused, gentle smile. "You must be confused. I don't even have a sister. I have a Cyclopes brother named Tyson, but that's it."

"No," Lynzee denied, her heart freezing in her chest. "Peyton was so kind to me. To you. To everyone. How could you have forgotten her?"

Something akin to recognition flickered in his mesmerizing green eyes, but it was gone before she could blink. "Sorry, but I think I would have remembered if I had a sister."

Lynzee wasn't too sure about it, but she did the only thing she could.

She let the subject drop.

Anxiety had eaten at the immortal girl ever since. Percy wasn't the kind of person to just forget someone he had known for years. Especially his own sister.

"Oh, Peyton," she muttered under her breath, her eyes sad. "What happened to you?"

Snap! Snap!

The Huntress dropped the wood in her arms and quickly drew her bow in a matter of seconds. Her sharp eyes scanned for a disturbance in the forest, but sagged in relief when there wasn't one.

"Maybe I'm getting too paranoid," she said thoughtfully to herself, her bow vanishing from her hands. As she bent down to pick up the wood she had dropped from the forest floor, she heard something that made her freeze in terror.

"Have you ever wondered, as you see the corpse go by,  
Have you ever wondered if you'll be the next to die?"

Limbs shaking, her bow appeared in her hand, the sleek metal doing little to comfort her. The female's beautiful voice sounded faint at first, but it was steadily getting louder. Notching an arrow, Lynzee's breaths came out in shallow pants as her eyes frantically searched the wildlife around her for the singer. Nothing.

"The dagger slides in, the maiden steps out.  
Beware, oh beware the maiden, who will fill you with self-doubt."

"Who's there?" Lynzee demanded, her voice coming out in a panicked screech, eyes wild. The voice was filling her to the brim with fear, making her tremble and sweat bead on her forehead.

A person finally came into view, and the huntress' breath caught in her throat.

A girl, unknown age but had to be around her teens, was draped in a silken red cloak with the hood covering everything except for her jawline and lips. It even covered her clothes underneath but with the skin that was visible, it looked deathly pale.

"Look at what you did to me!" the girl shrieked, the noise grinding on Lynzee's ears and making her grit her teeth in pain. "Now I'm suffering because of you!"

"Wh-who are you?" Lynzee stuttered, unable to keep her voice from shaking with fear.

"Look at what you did to me! Now I'm suffering because of you!"

"Who are you?" Lynzee all but screamed, her bow in hand forgotten. The voice was truly horrible and make tears of fear spring to her eyes.

"Look at what you did to me! Now I'm suffering because of you!"

Lynzee stumbled backwards, tripping over a tree root and landing painfully on her back. Too terrified to move, the immortal girl lay on the ground and cried.

"Look at what you did to me! Now I'm suffering because of you! Look at me! I'm suffering because of you!" The hooded figure held up their arms for Lynzee to see and the girl was shocked to see numerous wounds on the girl's pale arms, ranging from dark, gruesome-looking bruises to blistering burns to bone-deep lacerations.

"Please!" Lynzee sobbed, trying to will her body to move. "I don't know what I did!"

"Look at me! Look at me! Look at me! Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!"

And the girl removed her hood.

That was three days ago, and the huntress hadn't been seen since.

"Hello, Perseus Jackson. My name is Lithelacinth. I will be your opponent."

Everyone on deck froze, staring open-mouthed at the girl before them.

"Lithelacinth?" Annabeth spoke up first, lips twisted into a frown. "I've never heard of you in any mythology before."

"Yes, you have," Lithelacinth responded breezily. "I just have aliases I normally go by." Her tongue ran over her lips as if salivating for a delicious feast.

Percy's nerves were on edge. This girl was radiating bad energy and one look at Jason showed that the son of Jupiter felt it too. Piper and Hazel were still trying to process the information and Frank looked horrified that he had just hurt someone other than his intended enemy.

The hooded girl cackled in glee. "I have been looking forward to this for ages! Sadly, our time to fight is not now. I just had to save my baby brother and introduce myself." Her cloaked head turned to Annabeth. "You remember her, don't you? Ah, yes, yes you do. You were one of the lucky ones the Fates chose to remember."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "Who?"

The girl in front of Chrysaor grinned, spreading her arms in a dramatic gesture. "The daughter of the sea, of course. I believe you refer to her as Peyton."

Jason, Leo, and Piper stiffened, recognizing the name. Annabeth began to shake in fear and anger.

"What have you done to her?" the daughter of Athena growled menacingly.

The cloaked girl looked positively giddy, and Percy got a sick feeling in his stomach.

"She's happy in a place worse than the Fields of Punishment, of course!"

Everyone on deck froze. Even Percy, who Annabeth had nicknamed Seaweed Brain, knew what that meant. Whoever this girl was, she was stuck in Tartarus.

"Your gods generously offered her to me while you all were celebrating with the 'end' of the war! Oh, what fun she has been. She really has made a nice pet. I'm impressed she has made it this far without going insane! I would say to kill her and end it, but she's already dead!" She ended her sentence in a fit of giggles.

As Annabeth looked as if she would charge her, the girl suddenly waved a cheery goodbye.

"Adios, demigods!"

Lithelacinth and Chrysaor disappeared into the shadows.

"This is a bad idea."

"How so?"

"We're sailing a boat that can hardly hold itself together to Italy!"

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Josh."

"I'm not being a stick in the mud. Apparently I'm the only sane one here."

"I-I don't think it's such a bad idea."

"There you go! See? Lilaya agrees with me!"

"Shazer, you are insane."

"Won't deny it~."

"We're going to die before we even make it there."

"Aw, you don't know that for sure!"

"Yes, I do."

"Man, I wish Frenchie was here."

"You can call her if we make it out of this alive."

"Who's Frenchie?"

"Well Lilaya, her actual name is Francesca Ricci, but we call her Frenchie because of what happened to her in France."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not."

"Jooosh~! You're no fun!"

"This is going to be a long trip."

A marmoset is a vicious tiny creature. Look it up on google to see what they look like~!

Also, I'm sorry this chapter was so short. School is really tough to keep up on! I'll post again as soon as I can!

"Probably not."

"Jooosh~! You're no fun!"

"This is going to be a long trip."

The room looked like a cozy living room. The kind of place a happy family would gather together in, laughing and talking. Two green, squishy armchairs were positioned at two walls of the square room, and a thin, wooden rocking chair sat in the corner, pillows positioned on the seat. Dolls were spread out on the floor, like a child had abandoned them in the middle of play time. The walls were pained a crème color and the carpet was a soft brown. A light hung in the middle of the room, casting a warm glow on the area. It could almost make you ignore the fact that there were no windows.

Suddenly, a form started literally coming out of the wall. Hands and arms covered by a purple, long-sleeved shirt, legs that were bare until above the knee, where a simple black skirt covered, and finally the head and torso.

It was clearly a girl with the long hair that was held in two French braid pigtails that flowed down her back and hit the backs of her knees when she walked. Her eyes were framed by long, thick, black lashes, and she had a beautiful, feminine face. She looked to be no older than fifteen at most.

She walked to the middle of the room, her feet in combat boots but not making a noise on the soft carpet. If one looked close enough, they would be able to see a longing look coloring her eyes and a small frown curving her lips.

The girl turned in a slow circle, taking everything in before she sat on one of the couches. Her eyes fluttered closed and she leaned back, seemingly content for quite a few minutes before her peace was disturbed.

A muscled man in armor with a helmet covering his face walked through the same wall the girl earlier had walked though, looking rushed. "Lithe, you -"

He froze when he saw her position and what she looked like, not moving. "Lily," he began slowly, looking cautious, "can you let Lithelacinth come out now?" His words were slow and deliberate, like he was speaking to a child.

Smiling slightly, the girl cracked an eye open and looked at the man standing awkwardly in the room.

"Hello, Chrysaor," she said pleasantly. "How are you? I feel a bit strained right now, with Lithe acting up. And I don't go by Lily anymore."

"Ah, yes," Chrysaor mumbled, shuffling on his feet. "I'm good, sister. You can rest now and let Lithelacinth come out. She wanted to visit someone today."

'Lily's' eyes flashed with determination. She rubbed her palm on her forehead to ease her pounding headache before slowly standing up, stretching her limbs with otherworldly grace and smiling pleasantly at the golden warrior, a soft look in her eyes reserved for family and those she considered important to her.

"I believe I will be making that trip today. Funny enough, Lithe didn't plan on that, and it's fun to surprise her every once in awhile. She plans everything else out so thoroughly it amuses me that she tries to cut me out and pretend that I don't exist." Lily could feel the nervous tension radiating off of Chrysaor.

"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly. "When she comes to, she'll be livid..."

Lily smiled so serenely it made the elder-looking man relax. "Don't worry, Chry. I have enough power to flood some of my emotions with hers. I won't let her hurt you."

With steps like she was walking on air, Lily practically floated right past the son of Medusa and through the wall, calling a simple, yet heartfelt, "goodbye" as she left.

The teenage girl stepped out of the room and her eyes were met with the sights of a black throne room. Any mortal who lay eyes on it would be sure to fall to their knees in awe simply at the grandeur and splendor of the room. The power radiating from every surface, every crevice would make their eyes roll to the backs of their heads and faint from the overwhelming pressure.

"Father?" Lily called, her soft voice able to melt even the coldest of hearts. "I'm going out now. It's Lily."

There was no reply, but the girl knew her father had heard her. He always knew what went on in his domain and outside it. Humming a soft, cheery tune, Lily skipped towards the far wall of the room. A swirling mass of dull colors met her eyes, two meters wide and roughly three meters tall. She held an outstretched hand just in front of the swirling mass, fingers spread apart.

"Take me to him," she said softly, knowing the portal knew what she meant.

The colors from dull and sad to bright yellow and icy blue.

Smile brightening, the girl walked through the portal and to the other side, eyes closed. Her eyelids fluttered open again when she took three large steps forward, revealing bright, luminescent orbs to the world.

The scene that met her eyes was beautiful. Modest, yet extraordinary houses dotted the land, rolling hills of healthy, thick green grass, sparkling blue lakes that were filled with clean water, wild flowers blooming with shades unknown to the living, happy blue skies dotted with the occasional white cloud, and the hot sun beating down just hard enough to keep the area a perfect temperature. People mingled about in the streets while kids laughed and played, a smile on everyone's face.

Smiling gently, Lily happily scanned her surroundings until she saw what she had come here for.

There, sitting under the tree reading a novel in Greek, was a handsome man that looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. His sandy blonde hair was bleached from the sun and cut at the length that seemed to be not too long or too short and was spiked up in the front, his skin was tanned from long hours outside, lean muscles showed on his arms, and his ice blue eyes were fixed on the book. He looked completely casual with an orange t-shirt on, loose blue jeans, and sneakers. One leg was stretched out in front of him while the other was bent at the knee.

"Hello again," Lily said in an almost cooing tone, making him look up.

His eyes widened in clear shock as he took in the person in front of him and his face twitched slightly around his scar.

"You," he muttered, seemingly unsure of what else to say.

Lily glided towards him, looking serene and completely casual. "Hello, Luke Castellen."

"Make it stooooop," Lilaya whined, a hand clasped over her mouth, making her words come out muffled. Her face was a rather unhealthy shade of green and she was bent over the side of the boat like she was about to be sick. With what she looked like, it actually wasn't that too far off of a possibility.

"Sorry," Shazer said, looking sheepish and awkwardly rubbing the back of her head, mussing her hair and making her messy ponytail even messier. "I thought for sure we were heading towards Rome. I really had no idea we were actually going south."

Josh flipped through a book he had wisely brought with him, the wind gently ruffling his midnight hair and making the occasional lock catch onto his eyelashes. He really was an eye-catcher, Shazer noticed. It was no wonder most of the girls at Camp Jupiter went gaga over him when he walked into a room. Not that she thought of him like that, of course. She and Josh had more of a brother-sister or best friend relationship. Thinking about him in a romantic way made her unconsciously make a face and shudder. It would be like having a crush on a brother.

"I thought you were a daughter of Neptune," Josh muttered, not even glancing up from the pages of his book and snapping Shazer out of her train of thought. "You're suppose to know these things."

The brunette's cheeks flamed and she huffed, trying and failing to cover up her embarrassment. She knew she had a major problem with self-doubt and constantly second-guessed herself, but she couldn't seem to get rid of the constant gnawing nervousness of failure. She knew she should trust her gut since it had never been wrong before, but she couldn't seem to make herself do it (hehe, this is how I feel all the time! Totally based these last two sentences off of what I constantly feel!).

"Yeah." She touched the tips of her index fingers together and put a little more pressure on them. "I know, I'm sorry."

Josh raised an eyebrow and looked up from his book. When his entrancing eyes caught onto her posture, he put a finger in his book to keep his book and closed it most of the way.

"Why are you so embarrassed?" he asked, honestly curious. "I'm not condemning you for it or anything. I just wanted to know if something was wrong."

"O - oh!" Shazer stuttered, looking up so quickly her glasses fell down her nose. "Nothing like that!" she practically shouted, waving her arms around like a mad woman. "I'm fine, honest!" She paused in her mini freak out to push her glasses back up the bridge of her nose and awkwardly looked back at the sea.

Josh stared at her for a few more seconds, trying to depict her and see if something was wrong. When he didn't get anything, he looked back at the book in his hand, opened it, and began reading again.

For a minute or so the only sounds were the waves gently knocking against the abused wooden boat and Lilaya's sounds of nausea.

"Actually," Shazer said softly, breaking the silence and staring at her hands, "there is something that is bothering me."

Josh looked up once again in curiosity, his eyebrows furrowed in concern at the softness of his friend's voice. "I just... keep thinking about New Rome," Shazer confessed, biting her lip and sniffling slightly. Tears filled her chocolate-colored eyes. "How could anyone do that to someone else?" she croaked, bangs shadowing her eyes. "People get hurt all the time, I get it, but destroying our home? Gaining our trust only to throw it back in our faces when we're unprepared? That's unforgivable."

The daughter of Neptune clenched her fists in anger and the waves knocked harder against the tiny boat, making Lilaya moan something along the lines of, "Not again," and vomit into the churning water.

"Shazer," Josh said in a soothing voice, leaning forward and grabbing her hands in his. The waves died down some and the black haired boy gave the brunette girl's hands a comforting squeeze. "Whether they did it on purpose or not is completely irrelevant. What's done is done."

Shazer looked up and opened her mouth to reply, cheeks heated in anger, but her brotherly figure cut her off with a gentle shake of his head.

"No, Shazer," he said, finality in his voice. "Don't condemn all of the Greeks because of the doings of one or a few. I've spoken to some before." His mind flashed to one hooded girl in particular. "They aren't bad at all. Would you want them to hate us because of someone like Octavian?"

Shazer scrutinized her friend carefully and blinked in shock when she saw the softness in the boy's eyes. Who did he meet that touched him like that?

"I... understand," the brunette said reluctantly.

Josh smiled. "Good."

He let go of Shazer's hands and leaned back to his position earlier, picking up the book he had set aside next to him when he went to comfort the girl just younger than him.

"I'm still going to kill whoever messed up our home, though," the daughter of Neptune added in afterthought.

Josh nearly face-palmed. He couldn't find fault in that statement or come up with a reasonable argument either, considering he felt the same way she did.

Lilaya gave a pitiful moan from her position draped over the side of the boat, looking impatient. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost!" Shazer said, suddenly bursting with enthusiasm. Her eyes sparkled at the thought of revenge. "Just two more hours to go!"

Josh massaged his temples with his fingers and closed his eyes. It was going to be the longest two hours of his life.

"Oh, I know!" Shazer crowed happily. "Let's sing a song! Down by the banks of the hanky-panky, where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky, singing: Eeps, eyeps, opes, ops, momma had a baby and it went ker-plop(1)!" The brunette made a noise of excitement. "Come on, guys! Join in!"

"Jupiter help us all," the ravenette grumbled, sinking in his seat as Shazer belted out the song again.

Lilaya made a displeased sound in the back of her throat and Josh silently agreed with the blonde girl. This was going to be a long ride.

"You," Luke repeated in clear shock. "What are you doing here?"

He stood up from the ground but made no move to back away or step closer to the girl in front of him.

"Well," Lily mused, "it was either me or Lithelacinth, but I think it would be best for everyone if I came instead of her."

Luke secretly agreed, but his curiosity was peaked as to why the girl he hadn't seen in six years suddenly decided to show up. Six years was a long time to see someone and not forget what they looked like, but this girl had very distinguishable features that left both men and women stunned at her beauty, and she left a very unforgettable message and warning that to this day he wished he followed.

"I came to say hello," Lily said calmly, eyes sad as if she knew what he was thinking. "Your choices led you here. Lithelacinth would have mocked and scorned you, had she come in my place, but I simply wish to speak with you and ask about how you are faring."

The blonde son of Hermes pursed his lips nervously. "I'm fine, I suppose. As fine as someone dead can be, anyway. I keep thinking about how I should have listened to you, though. Maybe then I wouldn't be here."

Lily looked sad. "Oh, you would still be dead." Upon seeing Luke's shocked look, she further elaborated, "Lithe has some... persuasive ways to get someone to do what she wishes. You were in her plans from the beginning. She asked the Fates to bless your mother with the gift of prophecy, and they accepted."

There was a pause as Luke took the information in, and the look in his eyes shattered.

"So... my mom got cursed... because of me?" he croaked, trying to process the information. Lily looked hesitant.

"There was nothing you could have done. She marked you as her pawn, and guided you to Thalia and Annabeth from the Underworld. She was locked in a cage for years(2), but managed to run the whole empire from the inside. Her minions feared her and still do."

"So..." Luke swallowed thickly. "All those times when things seemed to be too good to be true, or we got lucky..."

"It was Lithe," Lily finished, eyes sliding closed so she didn't have to watch his reaction and allowed him some privacy to gather his emotions.

Luke bit down hard on his lip to distract himself from his flooding emotions. "Before I decided to be Kronos' host, she came to me." The blonde man paused. "She showed me how unfaithful the gods were, how my mother got turned insane, and so many horrible things. She pushed me over the edge and promised me she would help me get my revenge, so long as I always wanted it."

"I know," Lily whispered, not opening her eyes. "Lithe may be many things, but she always keeps her promises. As soon as you started having second thoughts, just as she knew you would, she killed you."

Pure confusion showed on the son of Hermes' face. "I killed myself."

Lily nervously chewed the inside of her cheek. "No... she did. Do you know what astral projection is?" Her eyes opened and the elder-looking male had WHAT practically written on his forehead in permanent marker.

"Mortals came up with the idea," she elaborated. "It was just a fun story to tell. People with psychic powers being able to project their souls from their body while they slept and look at things like a ghost. The stories gave people with astral projection different abilities. Some could physically touch things but not be seen by people other than mediums, some could think of a place and be there in the blink of an eye, and others could walk through walls and solid objects like normal but no one could hear or see them while they understood what was going on."

Comprehension slowly dawned on Luke's face.

"Lithe has a little ability she loves to use similar to that effect," Lily continued. "She literally gets inside people's heads and whispers thoughts in their minds, like a conscious. With you, she touched you spiritually and wrapped your fingers around the knife, giving you an extra push."

Horror. That one emotion filled the son of Hermes to his emotional boundaries and he harshly pressed the back of his hand to his lips while he breathed heavily.

"Why?" he croaked out, tears glossed over his eyes. "Why go through all that trouble to make me resurrect Kronos, only to kill me in the end?"

Lily paused and swallowed thickly. This was the part she didn't want to get to. But he had a right to know.

"Lithe enjoys playing with those she considers prey before she finishes them off. Life, human life in general, is just a big joke to her. She'll torture people far past insanity and laugh when they drag others down with them. That girl is the literal definition of a monster." Lily pressed her palms to the space where her heart was. "She had been planning this game for a little over a thousand years. She's planned out every action, every detail, right down to when someone sneezes. The only thing is..." Lily smiled hopefully. "She left me out. Lithe hates me so much she wants to pretend I don't exist. Her fatal flaw is that she lusts for blood and won't accept me. All that is needed is -" Lily cut herself off when a harsh cough escaped her throat, making her double over as air was exhaled from her lungs.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked automatically, closing the distance between them by a few steps. Lily waved him off while she coughed violently, unable to stop the harsh hacking sounds for what seemed like hours but was really only a few agonizing seconds. She straightened back up when it was over and cleared her throat. Luke could see a light sheen of swear on her forehead.

"I'm fine," she croaked, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. "I have weaker health than Lithe and have since I was a child. It's nothing to be concerned about."

Luke looked incredibly unconvinced. "And it doesn't hurt?"

Lily smiled mysteriously. "I never said that. The matter simply is that I am easily prone to sickness and have a much weaker physical body than Lithe does. However, the upside is that my powers are stronger."

"So it does hurt," Luke said, frowning slightly.

Lily internally sighed. This boy certainly had a one-track mind.

"My task here is done. I'm glad you are feeling well but I'm sorry you had to find out the truth this way. Before I leave, I must give you one more piece of advice that you must pass on in the future. Do not forget a single word I say." There was grave seriousness in her tone that promised pain and misery if he did not follow what she said.

Luke gave a slight nod to show that he was listening and straightened his posture.

"Two negatives make a positive. We search blindly for the meanings in life but sometimes look so hard we don't even see the answers that appear in front of us. Sometimes it is the opposite. We will sit around and wait for the answer we are looking for to fall out of the sky when we need to get up and search ourselves. No one knows when the precise moment to make every one of their decisions is. Push, pull, hope. Look in a mirror and you will find the answers you seek. What is the most important thing to have in life?"

Before Luke could say a word, Lily smiled mysteriously, took a step backwards, and vanished into thin air.

The deceased son of Hermes sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What was that suppose to mean?"

"Sweet land!" Lilaya shrieked, literally falling out of the boat and landing unceremoniously on the wooden dock. "I'll never take you for granted again!" she cried dramatically, exaggerated tears leaking from the corners of her eyes in pure joy.

"Hey, look!" the brunette daughter of Neptune said cheerily. "You're face isn't green anymore!"

Josh sighed and closed his eyes to try and numb the pulsing headache pounding away at his skull.

"At least we finally made it." He stretched out his arms and legs, the muscles feeling cramped from sitting in the tiny boat for so long. "Which way do we go now?"

Shazer looked around, a small, thoughtful frown coming onto her face. People around them seemed to walk by as if they didn't even see them, which shouldn't be right. Wouldn't you normally get at least a few people looking at you like you were off your rocker if you suddenly appeared in a dingy little boat from the sea? Well, apparently not.

The blonde demigoddess picked herself up off the ground and also eyed the people strangely. "Shouldn't someone be looking at us like we're freaks by now?" she said, voicing her thoughts aloud.

The black haired son of Pluto looked anxious as well. "I noticed that too... What's going on?"

Shazer felt an odd sense of calm wash over her, which really freaked her out for a moment.

I will guide you, a voice whispered in her ear, so quiet she almost didn't hear it.

The teenage girl looked around wildly for who said those words, but no one was there. A sudden feeling like a pull on her hand made her lift her arm up and point to the street on the right.

"We go there," the girl with glasses said, the words slipping through her lips without her consent. "That will lead us in the direction we need to go."

Josh looked at her like she suddenly announced she was in love with Octavian, but Lilaya nodded slightly with glazed eyes.

"She's right," the pretty blonde whispered.

Josh sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking like he was having an internal war with himself. "Fine," he relented. "I just hope your intuition isn't like it was on the sea."

Shazer looked at the ravenette and pouted. "I'm sure this time. I can't really explain it, but I know where we are suppose to go."

Josh slipped his hands into his dark jean pockets and nodded his head. "Lead the way."

A vase smashed against the side of the wall, leaving clear, glass shards in its wake. The white wall paint was chipping because of the abuse done to it and the thin, blue-gray carpet was covered in shambles.

"Dammit!" a feminine voice shrieked, full of venom. The anger in the tone would be enough to make the most brave of men quiver in fear.

A man completely covered in armor stood in the corner of the room, nervous but not showing it.

"How dare she?" the girl continued to rant, picking up a wooden stand two feet shorter than her but three times as thick. She lifted it above her head with no effort and threw it at the wall. Wooden splinters exploded from the impact and showered around the room. "I hate her! I HATE HER!"

Everything still in tact around the room was torn to shreds by an invisible force. The couch cushions, the papers, the fake potted tree, and the books.

"Lithe, calm down," Chrysaor said, trying to soothe his older sister who looked like a raging teenager.

Her glowing red eyes turned to him and he involuntarily flinched. She looked murderous.

"You," she hissed, clenching her fist and taking a step forward. "You let her leave!"

"No, you don't understand," he quickly tried to backtrack. "She was -"

"I DON'T CARE!" the girl said, having taken the form of a fifteen-year old girl earlier. It didn't even put a dent in how frightening she looked.

"Lithe, please, she said -" Chrysaor was cut off when the girl snarled and made to punch him. He closed his eyes and tensed, bracing for impact.

Lithelacinth's punches were not something to laugh about. One swipe could take off a man's head or crunch bones to powder. However, the impact he was expecting never came.

Gathering the scraps of his courage, the golden warrior opened his eyes and looked to see his half-sister's fist mere inches from his face. The girl herself was twitching, obviously trying to finish the swipe of her hand but seemingly unable to. It appeared Lily kept her promise.

The demon girl in front of the immortal warrior could not lay a hand on him.

Lithelacinth's lips pulled back into a snarl, exposing her sharp canines. "I cannot touch you," she noted in a hiss.

Chrysaor unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. Lithe reluctantly dropped her hand and took a step back, a frown marring her face. She opened and closed her mouth twice before snapping her jaw shut and leaving the room without a word. Chrysaor sighed and hoped his sister wouldn't go out and prey on any unsuspecting mortals. It would cause problems that would be a nuisance to clean up.

The Girl and Her

.

What time was it? The girl absently wondered because it was a happy thought. Yes, it was not bad. Was it dinner? Lunch? Breakfast? Or perhaps it was in the middle of the night. She didn't know, but it was nice to wonder. Her stomach was cramped with hunger, but it had been for awhile. How long had she been down here again? She lost count of the days after day eight. If she asked her, then she would punish her again, and the girl didn't want that. It hurt to be punished.

Someone down the hall screamed, their agonized cries echoing off of the empty hallways and a childish giggle that sounded so innocent it was wrong sounded immediately after. The girl shivered and curled into herself as if that would protect her from the horrors of the outside world.

She was back again.

The girl sat on the cold tiled floors and her bare feet were pink with the lower temperature. Her toes curled.

The room she was in use to be white, well, that's what she thought anyway. She couldn't remember. There might have been some white, but now that she thought about it, it seemed like there were some red and brown stains that they hadn't been able to remove before she came in.

The girl shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut, placing her face on her knees, her choppy brown hair draped over her form and hanging past her shoulders as she remembered how foolish she was when she had first gotten here. She fought against her, which made her delighted in turn. The girl should have been wary when she had always left the room with minimum torture done to her than others, but instead she was blinded and chose to be relieved, thinking that her fighting spirit had driven her tormented away. She now scoffed at the thought. No one could scare that—that monster. Not even the boy with black hair and sea green eyes. She might pretend to be scared, but that was just her playing with her prey.

Her favorite thing to do to the girl was play dollies with her. It was the thing the girl hated most, but she seemed to love it. Whenever she visited, she asked the girl if she wanted to play dollies, tag, hide-and-seek, or sing a song. The girl would stay silent for a moment—but only a moment, because if she was silent for too long she would get hurt again—before answering tag. That was the fastest game, and although it hurt, it was less painful than the others. What the girl really feared was when she didn't ask her what she wanted to play that day, and just played dollies or sing a song instead. She would giggle and cackle as the girl would wither on the ground in pain and make snide comments like, "Not so tough now, eh?" or "Aww, what's wrong? Do you not like it?" and "You're so much fun! Bend that way for me now, 'kay?" and the worst "Shush, shush. You complain so much. Should we get out the hooded again and make her play with me?"

The girl didn't cry, though. She learned very quickly that crying only excited her and she would make the games worse to get more tears. If she remained impassive and didn't scream like the others, it would be over faster. It wasn't an easy task, though. The girl screamed like everyone else, but that's all she did. She didn't say anything else because begging also made her happier. There were others who didn't scream or react at all to anything she did, and she called them "defective" and they were immediately disposed of. The girl hadn't met them herself or actually seen it happen, but the hall and other rooms were silent, unless she was there, it was easy to hear what was going on. Everyone was always silent, unless they were new, but they quieted down quickly. They learned that being loud made her attracted to you and you became her new favorite—which wasn't a good thing.

The screaming down the hallway had stopped. Was she leaving now? The girl listened and waited for a few tortuously slow seconds, her heartbeat thumping in her ears.

"La, lalala, lalalalalala, la, lalala, lalalalalalalalalala, la, lalala, lalalalalalalalalala, la~," the childish hum would have been comforting had it been anywhere else. But now it echoed eerily down the hallway, accompanied by clicks of heels meeting the tiled ground, and the girl could hear everyone shuffling quietly in their own rooms, most likely getting curled up in a corner like she was.

The girl fisted her dirty, tangled, and bloody locks in her shaking hands that were equally as bloody and dirty as her hair. She couldn't stop herself from mentally praying: Please, not me. Make her go past my room. Please, please. Too late, she realized that all prayers here went straight to him, who sent messages back to her.

"My perfect Fairytale begins with you  
I can see it now, that perfect picture  
Bloodstains, ball gowns, knives and swords  
Who needs Prince Charming when you have yourself?  
You better run, you better pray  
'Cause I'm not the damsel in distress in this story  
One, two, the baker got the flu,  
Three, four, the governor shut his door,  
Five, six, the priest grabbed the crucifix,  
Seven, eight, they're all too late  
Keep 'em in, keep 'em out Hear them scream, hear them shout  
Fairytales don't always have a happy ending, do they?  
Do you see your dark path if you stay?  
One choice, one chance."

The sound of heels clacking stopped, and the girl curled tighter into herself, nearly yanking her hair out by the roots and not daring to look up.

"I choose... you."

Her door creaked open agonizingly slowly, the rusty hinges creaking in forewarning and the girl shook on the floor, fear drowning all her nerves and short-circuiting her brain, making her unable to think straight.

"Hello," she heard a gentle, cooing voice, along with the swish of a cloak as she walked. If she had been anywhere else, she would have looked up.

"How are you today?" she continued, ignoring how the girl wouldn't look at her. "I don't want to let you choose what we play today, since you chose the last three times. It's my turn."

Oh, gods no... the girl shook harder with silent sobs, not a tear in her eye and no sound escaping.

"I want to play sing along today, mmkay?" she said with childish innocence that the girl wished she didn't possess. It would make things better. Take away that false sense of comfort.

The girl didn't look up, just shaking and hiding her face.

"Look at me," she said in a false soft tone, unspoken malice and threats hidden underneath the words.

The girl looked up, her once bright green eyes now dulled and fearful. Her keen eyes quickly took in her tormentor's appearance.

Her dark, thick hair was held up in a high ponytail, the end swishing near the middle of her back. Her eyes were closed, thick black lashes resting gently against her cheeks, and her head was tilted slightly to the side, a wide smile on her face, giving the illusion that she was naively happy. Her lips were painted crimson, but it also dripped out the side of her mouth and down her chin, so the girl knew it was blood. It had started to dry as well, and she wasn't foolish enough to think that it was her own blood. Her skin was so pale she was nearly translucent and she was by far the palest person the girl had ever seen in her life. Her shirt was a white, cotton, button-up, collared formal shirt with long sleeves that were currently rolled up to her elbows but had small splatters of crimson staining the soft fabric. She also wore a black loose skirt that went just above her knees and white socks with a blue stripe near the top that went to her knees that had more splatters of crimson on them than her shirt did. Worn down, tan tennis shoes were on her feet and there was a blue tie strung around her neck that was loosened to look casual. She looked to be fifteen years old this time and was undeniably the most beautiful person she had ever laid eyes on. She even beat Aphrodite in looks. She was crouched down, bent at the waist and knees with her forearms resting on her thighs as she stared at the girl a foot or so away from her. Too close for comfort.

All in all, she looked like an innocent schoolgirl, and that unnerved her even more and set her teeth on edge. No one that cruel and that heartless should have the appearance of someone that innocent.

Her eyes fluttered open, revealing horrible, terrifying eyes that scared her beyond anything and what made her pass out the first time. They held visions of her future death, things she wished she didn't know. People think it would be nice to see their fate of how they would die, but the girl would give up anything to keep those horrible visions out of her eyes.

She smirked and ran her tongue over her red lips, tasting the drying liquid on them.

"Ne, what should we sing today?" she asked, but the girl new better than to respond.

The black haired girl tapped her chin thoughtfully with a slim, dainty finger before grinning broadly and snapping her fingers, her smile showing off her abnormal, vampire-like canines. "Oh, I know!" She sat back and crossed her legs, setting her hands on her knees.

"Sing a song of six-pence  
Pocket full of Rye  
Four and twenty blackbirds  
Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened  
The birds began to sing  
Now isn't that a tasty dish  
To set before the king?

The king was in his counting house  
Counting out his money.  
The queen was in the Parlour  
Eating bread and honey.  
The maid was in the courtyard  
Hanging up the clothes  
When along came a blackbird  
And nipped off her nose."

The black haired teen with horrible eyes fell over laughing at the apparant imagery while the brunette girl shuddered and gently cupped her hands over her nose. She didn't want her nose to be taken off, if that was what her tormentor was hinting at.

The ravenette sat up and grinned widely at the huddling girl before her, eyes sparkling with glee she did not even bother to try and hide.

"Funny, ain't it? You should sing too."

The dirty girl swallowed thickly, her mouth feeling dry. She knew it wasn't a suggestion for her to sing along.

"Ready?" the pale girl said, seemingly happy with just someone to sing with. "I'll sing it one more time so you catch the words."

"Sing a song of six-pence  
Pocket full of Rye  
Four and twenty blackbirds  
Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened  
The birds began to sing  
Now isn't that a tasty dish  
To set before the king?

The king was in his counting house  
Counting out his money.  
The queen was in the Parlour  
Eating bread and honey.  
The maid was in the courtyard  
Hanging up the clothes  
When along came a blackbird  
And nipped off her nose."

The energetic teen raised her hands like she was preparing to lead a whole orchestra. "One, two, three, four."

The girl opened her mouth to sing, and her voice came out horribly cracked. She sang the song flawlessly, though. She knew what would happen if she didn't.

Once the song was over, the brunette put a hand to her aching throat, wishing for a glass of water. Apparently the ravenette noticed, and reached behind her and pulled out a rolled up sheet of paper that was tucked into the waistband of her skirt.

"Ready?" the pale girl asked, balancing the rolled up sheet of paper in the palm of her hand standing upwards, not a crease in the fragile material. "Say, 'abra cadabra'."

Swallowing, the girl with green eyes shakily croaked out the commanded words.

The ravenette flipped the piece of paper over into the air and caught it in the position it was before, only when it landed in her hand, it wasn't paper anymore. There was a tall, clear glass of water, filled to the brim with the clear liquid she so desperately craved.

"Here," the black haired girl said in an almost gentle voice, handing the glass to the teenage brunette who was curled up like a frightened animal.

The girl took a cautious look at it before quickly snatching the glass out of the schoolgirl-dressed teen's hands and gulped it down within seconds. When she lowered the glass and wiped the water from her upper lip with the back of her hand, she finally noticed the girl with horrible eyes looking at her in amusement.

"More?" she asked, and without waiting for a reply, waved her hand in a lazy manner and the glass once again filled with water which she quickly drank down.

The girl was slightly shocked at the behavior of the girl who seemed to be a year older than her, but held out the glass, silently asking for more. The ravenette rolled her frightening eyes.

"Oh, very well. But this is your last glass until tomorrow, understood?"

The girl quickly nodded her head yes, not thinking about her captor's strangely kind behavior for a moment, and when the black haired girl waved her hand, she quickly tipped the glass to her mouth and started drinking.

Three massive gulps later, the girl realized something was horribly wrong. The water tasted like a tangy iron and thickly slithered down her throat. The girl's green eyes widened, recognizing the taste. She quickly threw the glass to the opposite side of the room, where it shattered against the wall, and threw up onto the floor.

Faintly she could hear the ravenette laughing at her in a mocking way, and knew she must be beside herself in glee.

How could she have been so stupid? She had never done something so kind to her before, so for her to take the glass without a second thought again and again was foolishness on her part.

The brunette threw up the rest of the blood and water, dry heaving even after it was all out. She was disgusted in herself.

"Look!" the black haired girl practically sang, now on her stomach with her feet kicking the air and her chin propped up in the palm of her hand. "Now we match!" Her tongue darted out between her lips and she licked her lips for emphasis.

The girl made a disgusted face and sat back up from her position on her hands and knees, scrubbing her tongue with her hand.

"Aw, don't like it?" the ravenette pouted mockingly. "Well, that's too bad, because it's her blood."

The girl froze, eyes widening with horror. She didn't have to ask her who's blood she meant.

As she had been tortured, her memories started to seal themselves up, only appearing sometimes when she dreamed. She didn't remember a lot of names. Only Artemis, Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hades, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Persephone. She remembered all the monsters she fought and some faceless people falling to the ground. And blood. So much blood.

But... there was also someone else she remembered that she wished she couldn't. A girl that always wore a cap and hood and never showed her face that she was so cruel to. The one that died pushing her brother out of the way and died in the process, only for him and another good handful of people to forget her. The one who was in a "special room" in this gods-forsaken place, being able to hear everyone else's screams but no one else being able to see her.

How did the girl know this? She quickly discovered that her tormentor was many things, but a liar wasn't one of them. She even enjoyed bringing the girl pictures of the girl she wanted to apologize to, showing her how she got even worse treatment, and giggled about it.

"Poor little daughter of Poseidon," the beautiful teen sneered. "She didn't even scream when having her blood drawn." The black haired girl clawed at her arms with a disgusted look, like something was on her that she couldn't remove. "It will be nice to finally have the son of Poseidon and daughter of Athena down here so that I can complete my plans and finish her for good. Would you like to see her?"

The girl bit her lip, and against her better judgement, nodded her head.

The immortal girl grinned wickedly. "I was hoping you would say that. Sadly, you won't be able to until I'm finished dressing her up. I'll even give you a full album of pictures when I'm done."

Without warning, the teenager stood up, her skirt swishing around her legs with the movement and even more blood stained onto her clothing from when the girl had thrown the cup. The black haired girl waved her hand and the mess of the glass vanished; however, the blood and vomit remained.

"I'm bored now," she stated flatly, gritting her teeth. Was it the brunette's imagination, or did it seem like the raven haired girl's horrible eyes were flickering between that horrible color and a sharp violet...?

"And I won't be back tomorrow," she continued stiffly, clenching her fists and digging her nails into her palms, "but you can expect me the day after."

With that, the menace turned on her heel and strode through the closed door, not even the sound of footsteps sounding after.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Please be safe, Peyton. I wish I could apologize to you. If you can hear me, know that Lynzee says sorry."

"I don't believe this."

A rosy blush rose up from the brunette's neck and colored her face in the bright color. "It isn't my fault."

"We're lost," the ravenette boy continued, ignoring his embarrassed companion. "You managed to get us totally and utterly lost."

"In all fairness," the blonde spoke up shyly, blushing prettily, "I did go with her plan as well."

The black haired boy sighed and looked at the sky, like all the answers to his problems were held there. "Where in the name of Hades are we?"

The city was small. No, sorry, that was being generous. It wasn't even a town, really.

There were maybe—maybe—eleven houses there at most, the rest was rolling green hills, tall corn stalks, farming land, and a whole lot of animals cooped up in corrals.

A cow mooed in the distance.

"That's it!" the boy with silver eyes snapped, fists clenched. "Next time I'm leading the way. No exceptions."

"Like you could have done better!" the brown eyed bespectacled girl challenged, hands set on her hips in a defiant pose, daring the elder boy in front of her to question her judgement.

The handsome boy huffed, crossing his arms and turning his back to his companion. "I could have, actually."

The brunette girl in her early teens swelled with anger. "Why you—"

"Guys!" the blonde interrupted, eyes narrowed and face weary. "Look, we've been travelling for hours. Arguing is getting us nowhere. Let's just stop and see if we can find somewhere to rest, okay?"

The two arguing demigods had a stare off—ethereal silver versus earthly brown.

"Fine," the two conceded at the same time, turning away from one another with their arms crossed over their chests, stubbornly averting their eyes from the opposite person.

Lilaya breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want to have to add those two arguing and grating on her nerves to add to her very long list of things she didn't want to deal with today. Even Josh, the calm boy she had dubbed as a brotherly figure that had been keeping them all together was even falling apart at the seems with the hours of walking they had to endure. About three hours ago, the glazed look in Shazer's eyes that Lilaya had noticed had suddenly vanished. The daughter of Neptune seemed to panic for a brief moment before continuing to march on, pretending that she knew where she was going while really having no clue at all. Lilaya had seen the worried but still prideful look in her (friend's?) eyes and knew that she would not admit that she suddenly had no idea where she was leading them. Truth was though, Lilaya still felt like they were going in the right direction.

Something constantly nudged at her conscious, seemingly whispering, This way, this is the right way, which was the reason the blonde kept her mouth shut about the brunette's sense of direction in the first place.

"Where should we go?" Josh asked, looking directly at Lilaya and ignoring Shazer altogether. The blonde saw the hurt look flash in the brunette's eyes at being dismissed by the boy she looked up to as a brother, but Lilaya understood that he needed some time to himself to calm down before he could talk to the daughter of Neptune calmly again. Perhaps some rest in a nice bed and a hot meal would do. The demigoddess knew the son of Pluto would be ashamed of his behavior later, but for now decided to just cooperate, for everyone's sakes. She could almost see his frustration bubbling under the surface of his skin, and she felt much the same way, only to a lesser extent. The blonde shuddered to think at what the boy would do if he was pushed past his limits of self-control.

"We should knock on someone's door and ask if they have a place we can stay for the night," Lilaya resolved. "We're all tired and some rest should do us some good."

Josh nodded stiffly, sticking his hands into his jean pockets. "Lead the way."

The blonde was slightly flattered that the boy who had unofficially taken leadership of the mission was asking her to do this task, no matter how menial it seemed at the moment. He didn't know her very well and had eyed her with a wary sort of suspicion the whole trip, like she suddenly might turn into a giant green monster and swallow them whole or stand up and cackle before spilling her evil plans about helping Gaea. Truthfully, it was slightly hurtful, but Lilaya decided not to pry or snap at his obvious lack of trust in her. They all had their scars and everyone had a reason for their acting.

Lilaya turned, dirt crunching under her feat, and started down the dirt path.

Awkward silence reigned heavily over the group and when Lilaya chanced a glance at the two people following behind her like ducklings, her bright eyes were met with Josh, who had his arms still crossed over his chest in a stubborn way and eyed the scenery with cold eyes as they passed, and Shazer, who had her hands stuffed in her pockets and was staring at her feet as they walked. Lilaya sighed and turned her eyes back to the front of the path, hoping to find someone willing to take them in soon before all of them snapped emotionally. It certainly had been a trying day.

Exactly six minutes and forty-four seconds of heavy silence later, the trio walked up the steps of the nearest house.

It was a beautiful thing, with three visible stories from the outside, a wraparound porch, and a balcony. It was made of a reddish-brown brick and had a porch swing decorated with fluffy cream pillows and two large potted plants sat by either side of the door, blooming in bright colors. The windows had their shutters pulled down, which was understandable, seeing as how the sun was starting to sink below the horizon and there was barely enough daylight to kiss the ground left. The brown oak door stood tall with a brass handle and had wide designs of beautiful stained glass complemented the rest of the house nicely.

Lilaya took lead and rung the doorbell that was on clear display next to the door. The chime rung beautifully throughout the house, a soothing song alerting the people—if there were any, that is—inside that guests had arrived at the door.

The demigods heard muffled shuffling throughout the house and a faint, "Coming!" to which they all let out a breath they hadn't been aware they were holding in.

A moment later a woman opened the door, and Lilaya felt her breath catch in her throat.

The woman was beautiful. Not that stop-dead-on-the-street-and-stare kind of beautiful, but more of the beauty that you looked at and knew the person in front of you was beautiful inside and out.

Her curly dark black hair was pulled back from her face in a high ponytail, and her bangs rested gently across her forehead. Her skin was sun kissed from long hours of work outside and her warm blue eyes were framed by naturally black lashes. Her lips were tugged upwards in a welcoming smile, despite how she must have been interrupted from working seeing as how she had a laundry basket tucked snugly under her arm. She was dressed in faded blue suspenders and had a long-sleeved red shirt on that was just as faded as her suspenders. She appeared to be in her early thirties and but had a youthfulness about her that most women would envy.

The woman scanned their rumpled appearances with concerned eyes, taking in Josh's mud-stained clothes (a story for another time) and hair that seemed to be trying to defy gravity (despite this, Lilaya had to grudgingly admit he still looked handsome), Shazer's fluffed up hair that looked like some sort of wild animal had taken residence in it and decided to make it its home and the brunette's rumpled clothing before landing on Lilaya, who didn't have a doubt in her mind that she looked just as bad as the other two, if not worse.

"My goodness," the woman spoke with a heavy Italian accent. "What happened to you poor dears?"

Lilaya felt her heart swell in hope and couldn't help but be thankful that they had stumbled across someone this nice. Now if she would take them in...

"We got lost," Lilaya said, her voice cracking from thirst. Her bones ached and she was suddenly shocked at how tired she seemed. "We got separated from our parents—we're all siblings, adopted, you see—and we've been wandering around for hours. Could we perhaps borrow your phone?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Lilaya saw both Josh and Shazer shoot her incredulous looks. They seemed to scream: Borrow her phone?! Do you want to die, because I will gladly kill you after this.

Lilaya suppressed a shiver and focused at the task at hand. She looked at the woman with hopeful eyes and was shocked that they were slightly teary. The day certainly had pushed her to her emotional and physical limits.

"Of course!" the woman said in a gasp, moving aside to let them shuffle in, which they did gratefully. "And if they can't come right away, feel free to stay the night. It gets lonely here and I have plenty of rooms to spare."

Shazer and Josh looked slightly wary of the woman, after all, in the demigod world nice stranger equaled hungry monster, but Lilaya couldn't help but feel like this woman truly meant no harm and had an honest heart, so she just nodded gratefully.

"Thank you. We'll accept the offer, if we're not imposing," Lilaya said, eyes dropping in exhaustion.

The woman set down her laundry basket. "'Tis no trouble at all, dear. Feel free to use the phone in the hall. I'll show you, if you'd like. After that I can show you your rooms you can use."

"Thank you, ma'am," Josh said politely, voice guarded.

The woman shot the son of Pluto a warm smile despite his frosty behavior, seemingly used to it, and Lilaya had the urge to smack her male companion upside the head for being so stiff with a woman who was obviously kind and letting them stay in her home on such short notice when very little people would have done the same thing.

"Don't worry about it," the woman said breezily, the warm smile still firmly planted on her face. Lilaya immediately admired the woman for her kindness. "Shall I lead you to the phone?"

"Yes, ma'am," Shazer said, closing one eye tiredly and scrubbing it with a fist. She figured Lilaya would probably be the only one to call her parents since hers didn't really worry like that and only panicked if she didn't call in a month. It wasn't that they didn't care. It was just that they trusted her enough to make decisions on her own and take care of herself.

"Right this way," the woman said, turning and leading them down a wide hallway decorated in pictures and little trinkets that they all took notice of as they followed after her. The demigods didn't really absorb the images in the photos, only taking notice that the woman was in many of them and she seemed very happy.

Just a few seconds later they came upon a wall phone that was hanging in a slightly slanting position from the pastel green wall.

"Here it is," the woman said kindly, gesturing to the phone. "Just type in your number and it'll do the rest. I'll just be in this room if you need me." The woman left to a room on the right and Lilaya was thankful for the obvious gesture of privacy.

"Go ahead, Lilaya," Josh said, still not looking at Shazer but casually leaning against the wall. "You call. We don't need to."

Lilaya nodded her thanks and picked up the phone with lightly shaking hands, nervously typing in her phone number and almost dropping the phone a few times. Shazer and Josh politely averted their eyes from her fragile form and waited for her to finish the call.

Lilaya held the phone to her ear, biting her lip nervously and her eyes filling with tears as it rung.

"Hi," a voice Lilaya recognized as her father's said. "I'm not home right now, but please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as I can."

Of course he wasn't home. Lilaya had no idea what time it was there, but she knew her father would be beside himself in worry and looking everywhere for her until she showed up.

A beep sounded after her dad's baritone recorded voice and Lilaya opened and closed her mouth a few times numbly before she found her voice.

"Hi, dad," she croaked, a tear trailing down her cheek. She sniffled before continuing, "I am just calling to let you know I'm okay. I won't be home for a long while so please don't worry yourself looking for me. No, I'm not in trouble," lie, "or kidnapped," I will kill you later, Shazer, "but I can't come home until I take care of some things. So... yeah. Bye." Lilaya hurriedly ended the call and scrubbed her face with her hands, letting out a shaky breath in the process.

Shazer and Josh thankfully didn't say anything, and they entered the room the woman had entered before and scanned the beautiful interior with eyes glazed over with fatigue.

"Oh," the woman looked up from her book she was reading from the couch in the corner of the room. Lilaya caught a glimpse of the cover and was slightly confused when it read: P.S. She had never heard of that book before.

The woman snapped the book shut and lay it down on the sofa with the title down, hiding the words on the cover.

"Are you ready then?" she asked gently, as to which all three demigods nodded.

"Alright, this way," she waved them up after her and led them up a carpeted staircase, down a hallway before pausing and looking at the three teens. "Now, would you like to share a bedroom, or have separate quarters?"

Lilaya said the words before her brain fully registered them. "Me and Shazer will share, but Josh can have his own."

"Okay," the woman smiled sunnily. "In that case, you two will get this one." She passed the door they had stopped at before and opened the one next to it. It was fairly simple with cream colored walls, a bright light in the middle of the ceiling, two twin beds with thick red comforters, soft-looking white carpet, two side tables, and a large window.

"And the young man will have the room across from you two. Feel free to explore, but I apologize and have to tell you that the third floor is off-limits."

Lilaya's interest was peaked, but she respected the woman's wishes and nodded in agreement.

"Great!" the woman clapped her hands together and eyed their appearances. "You all look exhausted, so you can take a shower in the morning, but would you like me to bring you some spare clothes for now?"

They nodded sluggishly and the woman turned. "I'll be right back," she promised before hurrying away.

"I like her," Shazer said, examining the room. "She's nice."

Josh didn't acknowledge her but Lilaya nodded in agreement to the brunette's words.

A minute later the woman came floundering back, her arms full of a pile of clothes. She handed Lilaya a pair of a girl's silky pink nightdress and Shazer a matching one in blue before turning to Jake and handing him a large gray t-shirt and flannel pajama pants.

"They might be a bit small," she warned the girls, looking apologetic. "But I just couldn't bare to replace them since—" Her voice broke and her eyes teared up unexpectedly. "Never mind." She let out a forced laugh and Lilaya was suddenly curious as to what made the woman so sad.

"I'm sorry," the raven haired woman apologized, wiping underneath her eyes with the backs of her hands and catching any tears that fell. "Don't mind me. I just get emotional sometimes."

Josh suddenly looked less frosty towards the woman. "Thank you."

She waved him off. "I can't turn away people in need when I'd want them to do the same with Peyton."

Josh stiffened slightly at the name but Lilaya was curious.

"Oh, is Peyton your son?" she blurted before covering her mouth when she realized how rude the question had been. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me."

The woman let out a happy laugh and waved her off, a fond look in her eyes. "No, it's alright. Peyton is actually my daughter." Lilaya suddenly felt very stupid. How could she not have noticed with the clothes she and Shazer were holding?

"Which reminds me," the woman said, clapping her hands together. "I never introduced myself, did I? My name is Katherine Shahar."

Josh's eyes widened and he almost dropped the clothes in his hands onto the floor. He knew that name. How could he forget? The memory flashed before his eyes, clear as day.

"I'm Josh, by the way," he said suddenly, breaking the heavy silence that had befallen the pair. "Josh Adams."

The hooded teen gave him a small nod as she reached up and tried to fix the hat that sat crookedly on her head. A piece of curly hair had fallen down into her face, but she paid it no mind. "I'm Peyton Shahar."

He would say it was a coincidence, but too many things worked against that flimsy excuse. He had just met the girl he was destined to fall in love with's mother.

"Leo, stop," she tried to plead, tightly grabbing the fabric of his shirt. "Say no, Leo. He could be tricking us!"

The boy shook off her grip, his eyes never wavering from the imposing figure before them, his eyes hardened with resolve. "I accept."

The god—could she really call him that?— grinned menacingly. "Excellent. The contract is sealed."

"NO!" Lilaya screamed in despair, falling to the ground. It was too late, though. She was too late. She had failed.

Lilaya sat up in bed, covered in sweat and panting. She ran a shaky hand over her face as she tried to remember her dream, but found she could not, no matter how hard she focused. Shrugging it off, she decided to worry about it another time and instead slipped out of bed to take a shower.

I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember, you said, "Don't leave me alone."  
But all that's dead and gone and past, tonight  
Just close your eyes, the sun is going down  
You'll be all right; no one can hurt you now  
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound  
—Safe and Sound, Taylor Swift

Pain. There was so much pain it was crippling. The main source of pain was from her lacerated wrists, which were throbbing sharply. A deep cut—so deep you could almost see her white bone—was carved cruelly into her cheek, thick crimson undauntedly flowing down her face and making her shirt soaked with the horrible liquid.

Her back was propped up against the bark, arms laying limply at her sides and staining the ground with red as it flowed from the long cuts that went from her wrists to her elbows. Her legs were stretched out in front of her, one of her knees bent, and her chin rested on her chest. Her eyes were half open, simply because she didn't have the energy to do anything more. She couldn't force her body to move. Every time she tried—willed—her body to do something, all she could manage was a twitched of her fingers.

"Pathetic," a memory sneered in her head, the face of a boy coming along with it. "You can't do anything, can you?"

A bitter smile tugged the corners of her cut lips upwards, lifting her cheeks and sending another shock wave of pain through her body as she agitated the wound, but she ignored it. It was slowly becoming numb, anyways.

Without warning, tears suddenly started flowing down her cheeks. The crystalline, clear liquid mixed with the blood on her face, turning the once pure color into an inky red. It washed down her face and onto the ground, making rivers and washing away enough blood so that her slowly healing bruised skin could be seen.

"I'm sorry, mom," she croaked to no one. No one to hear her pleas. No one to come to her rescue. "I don't think I'll be able to get up this time."

She gave a weak laugh that was followed by a harsh cough that made her eyes fall shut and body shake weakly. Blood was spit out of her mouth.

"This is the way I wanted it, right?" she asked herself softly, on the verge of hysterical. "Right? No. It—it wasn't... Oh, gods. I'm so sorry... I—I would never... It wasn't me... I... It wasn't..."

She choked on a sob, the tears coming from her eyes seemingly doubling in amount. A few long moments later, she managed to choke out eight final words.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't want to love..."

Confusion. Where—?

"Oi, oi! Watch out!" a familiar voice called laughingly.

Too late. Something came flying through the air and hit the poor, unsuspecting boy right in the face, knocking him to the ground. The wind was knocked out of him as his back hit the soft grass.

A loud round of laughter surrounded him, a number of around four or five male voices being heard.

Curious, he cracked his eyes open to see who they were, since they had closed when he fell down. His eyes focused and he noticed that all of them were lean and well-muscled. One had fiery red hair and sparkling blue eyes, the one standing right over him and blocking the sun from his face had short blonde hair and brown eyes, one had light brown hair and hazel green eyes, and the last had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. They were all wearing grins on their faces, and the redhead's was lopsided. They looked like the kind of boys Shazer would scream over.

Shazer? Who's Shazer?

She's my friend.

We don't have a friend named Shazer. Just Ajax, Klaasr, Risto, and Sinon. And... her.

No, my friend is Shazer. She's the daughter of... of...

Of who? Never mind. It doesn't matter. Shazer doesn't exist.

But—

"You did it again!" the one with short blonde hair and brown eyes laughed merrily. "You can't even walk on your own two feet, Clio!" He reached out a tanned hand that he—ismynamereallyClio?—immediately clasped with his own. The blonde tugged him to his feet before giving him a firm pat on the back.

He gave the boy a sour look as his name and past suddenly filled his mind. How could he have forgotten?

"Aw, shuddup, Ajax," he grumbled, wiping his back off from the blades of grass that were stuck to his toga.

The blonde gave him a wry grin. Sinon snickered at him.

"You're hilarious, Clio," he said in clear amusement, running a hand through his red hair. Sinon was the jokester of the group and made it his life mission to pull pranks on the people in their village and generally just have a good time. The only time he was serious was when he was picking on—

"That's why you're our friend!" Ajax said jokingly, swinging an arm around his shoulders and ruffling his hair.

Ajax was the oldest of the group and acted a lot like an older brother, being twenty-six years of age. He was followed by Risto, who was twenty-three and played the role of the older brother who had a tendency to not think things through before acting. Klaasr was next at the age of twenty-one, playing the wise one, always the mediator. Clio himself was the next, a proud twenty years old, and a lady killer just like the rest of them. Sinon was the youngest, being nineteen, and it showed. He had the personality of a child and constantly wanted to play games or pull pranks on someone. He also had a temper that was not to be taken for granted.

Clio rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his face. A group of girl nearby watching them giggled and shrieked with one another. Turning his eyes to them, the young adult gave a flirtatious wink that sent them into another round of excited shrieks and made them huddle together while shooting him smiles and batting their eyelashes. Not that anyone could blame them, though. The five boys were undoubtedly the most handsome in their village that were single. More often than not a gaggle of squealing and giggling girls in their best togas and jewelry would follow them around, trying to get their attention with either their riches or beauty or both.

"Aw, well, will you look at that?" Risto said, smirking. He ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair. His dark blue eyes took in the figures of the girls, mentally sizing them up and weighing their worth before his eyes settled on one of the exceptionally pretty blondes in the group with perfectly curled hair and honey brown eyes. He sent her a wink, which was responded with a high-pitched giggle. "We've got ourselves a group of admirers following us again. Hey, I'm going to go get with Anneyies. Maybe we can play later."

Klaasr frowned in obvious disapproval, a stern look in his hazel green eyes. "Risto," he began in his lecturing voice, as to which the said blonde boy winced to, "you know her father will literally behead you if you try to court her again. Just leave her alone and ignore them."

The blonde rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I'm older than you, Klaasr," he said matter-of-factly. "You can't tell me what to do."

"Wisdom has little to do with age," Klaasr said, making the three other boys who weren't participating in the argument groan in annoyance. Klaasr and Risto had the same argument. Every week. About the same things. With the exact same wording every time.

"That—" Risto abruptly cut himself off and let out an annoyed sound from the back of his throat. The four boys that were in a crescent shape around him with their backs facing whatever their cocky blonde friend was looking at merely raised their eyebrows.

"What is it now?" Clio jeered. "New pretty dame caught your eye?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Clio could see the group of girls whispering among themselves and frowning before grudgingly leaving the area, but he paid it no mind.

Risto snorted, his face contorting into a look of disgust. "No way in the Fields of Punishment. Your lover girl is here, Clio."

Said boy's eyes widened in shock and he spun on his heel to see if his friend was pulling his toga or not.

Less than seven yards away was a girl that made the breath catch in his throat. She wore a ratty brown toga that was highly improper for a girl of her social standing, the neckline low because the bust was obviously too big for her and the sleeves continuously slipped from her slim shoulders. The hem of her toga only reached the middle of her thighs. The girl wore no shoes and looked to be about sixteen years old. She was deathly pale and her hair made snow look dirty. Her eyes were framed by thick black lashes and were the most beautiful color he had ever seen in his life. To him, she was more beautiful than Aphrodite. Her long hair was braided in a simple plait down her back and hit her calves as she walked. Some loose hairs framed her face prettily and a breathtaking smile lit up her face. A dagger was strapped to her waist by a worn leather belt and a bow was slung over her back, a quiver of arrows hung on her hip.

"You're drooling, Clio," Sinon said, looking amused as ever.

The young man reached up to wipe the drool from his face, but his hand came back dry.

Sinon burst out laughing. "Oh, gods! You really did think you were drooling! That's great!"

Ignoring his friend, he stepped towards the girl that was obviously walking towards him and ignored his friends' annoyed groans and jeers to leave her alone. They came up with excuses for why he should be away from her all the time. It ranged from the fact that she wasn't a proper lady to she hunted barefoot and even her extremely low class and position in social society. Did they not realize how beautiful she was?

"Clio," she said shyly when she was a few feet away from him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Was it his imagination, or were her eyes a darker color than normal?

"Can I talk to you and your friends for a few moments," she muttered, wringing her hands together in a gesture of uneasiness.

Clio grimaced. The girl in front of him usually argued with his friends like two fully grown men competing in a tournament to the death. And that was really a nice way to put it. Of course, it was usually his friends' fault, but he really didn't know how to fix that. The beautiful girl came from an extremely lower class, and it went down even more when her mother and aunts died in that horrible accident eight years ago. Now her social standing had hit rock bottom was was scraping the bottom of the tank. The insults his friends threw at her only became worse after that, since the girl was essentially homeless. They had always teased her from the beginning about her terrible health and low social standing, of how she had to constantly work in the fields, sew, and harvest to earn half of what they earned in a week. Shamefully, Clio had also participated in the bullying towards the girl he had grown to love, and still did when the bullying escalated so that he would not be

"Okay, Ammie," he said, swinging an arm over her shoulders in a casual gesture. He led the girl towards his friends, who were all sporting varying defiant and superior poses.

"Well, would you look at what the dogs dragged in," Sinon sneered, his joking aura evaporating and leaving a cruel one in place.

"Sinon," Klaasr snapped in warning.

"No, Klaasr," Ajax said, lip curling. "He's right." He turned his hard brown eyes to the girl that seemed to want to shrink into the ground. "Where have you been, teras(1)? You haven't been dropping by as much lately."

Clio removed his arm from around her shoulders and shoved her to the ground, smirking, while his friends let out cruel peals of laughter.

She'll understand, the young man thought dismissively. After all, she has to love me as much as I love her. Who wouldn't in her place?

Ammie sat on the ground on her hands and knees, body shaking and fists curling in the grass. The marble temple beside them had a cement sidewalk that ran around it just a foot or so away from where she fell.

Risto spit on the ground in front of her. "Good, you're in your rightful place again."

She didn't respond with a barbed comment like she use to. Clio felt panic worm its way inside of him as she saw how clammy her skin was. She looked like she was trying to hold something back.

"What's wrong?" Risto sneered, kicking her side, which she responded with a muffled grunt. Clio winced. "Too cowardly to face me?"

"No," Ammie muttered, shaking her head.

Risto opened his mouth to say something, but the young girl said something that made them pause in confusion.

"I don't want that... You can't. I won't let you! Just get out of my head!"

Ajax crouched down and placed one forearm on his knee while the other grabbed a fistful of Ammie's hair, pulling it out of the braid, and turning her face up to his.

"What's going on with you, teras?"

"Stop!" Ammie flailed, falling onto her back and thrashing around. "Leave! Please leave!"

Risto let out a laugh that sounded much like a cackle. "The little girl wants us to go away!" he leered down at her prone form on the ground. "Sorry girlie, but I don't think we're going to be leaving anytime soon. At least not until we have a little fun. Isn't that right, my friends?"

Clio frowned, as did Klaasr, but for different reasons. Clio had a bad feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, but Klaasr was raised to respect women to some extent and never took part in the bullying unless it was to throw a comment back at the teenage girl when she insulted one of his friends. Ajax on the other hand grinned wickedly and Sinon let out a whoop of excitement.

"N—no," Ammie stuttered, her back arching off the ground. "I won't let you! Get out! Go!"

"Look at this!" Sinon crowed. "It looks like she has finally gone mad!" He clapped Clio on the back. "It looks like you've been fawning over a mad woman this whole time. I'll still let you have a go at her later, though. Maybe after I can have some one-on-one with the beauty when you're finished?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows for emphasis.

Clio frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but never got the chance. Because one simple action led to a chain of events that could never be undone.

Risto had mocked the lying girl while Clio and Sinon were talking, and got bored, so he kicked her in the side to see her reaction.

The girl's eyes snapped open. But they weren't that beautiful sharp, clear color that Clio remembered. And right then, he knew he was going to die.

"Should we wake Josh up?" Lilaya asked, putting her wet hair into a towel and wrapping it up. Shazer was sitting on the bed that Katherine Shahar had lent them. She really was a kind woman.

When Lilaya had woken up, the woman was rummaging around in the kitchen. She had stopped whatever she was doing as soon as she caught sight of the blonde demigod and bustled over to her, hands fluttering around her form but not touching her, like she wanted to mother her but wasn't sure if she should.

"I was just about to make breakfast," she said instead, using her hands as she talked. "You can go upstairs and take a shower if you want. It's stalked with everything you'll need, and I'll bring an extra set of clothes up while you and your friend use it. Take your time and you can come downstairs to eat when you finish, if you'd like."

Lilaya had kindly thanked the woman before going upstairs to tell Shazer the news. As soon as the words left her lips, Shazer had sprung out of bed and darted to the bathroom, slamming the door shut and locking it behind her. The sound of running water was heard not long after and Lilaya sighed before going back to their shared room. She straightened the beds and tried to make things look a bit more presentable, but it was nothing compared to what it was when they first got here, and Lilaya felt a bit guilty for that.

Katherine had come into the room not long after, setting the clothes on the bed with a sort of reverence Lilaya hadn't noticed before, and she had immediately felt guilty about using her daughter's clothes. She apologized and tried to give them back, but the woman proved herself to be quite stubborn and wouldn't take no for an answer. She had said that it would be more insulting if Lilaya hadn't accepted. Honored, Lilaya took the clothes from the woman and handed Shazer the pair left for her just as Katherine left down the stairs and Shazer came out of the steamy bathroom. The daughter of Neptune had her glasses in her hand and a fuzzy bathrobe on. The blonde demigoddess basically shoved the clothes at her brunette friend before dashing to the bathroom herself.

It was heaven.

When Katherine had said that the bathroom was fully stocked, she wasn't kidding. The hot water soothed her aching muscles and she washed her blonde hair thoroughly with strawberry scented shampoo and vanilla conditioner. A good half an hour later, Lilaya reluctantly stepped out of the shower and got dressed in the clothes Katherine had for her. The blonde slipped them on before examining herself in the mirror that was a bit foggy.

The jeans were boot-cut and slightly faded but obviously well loved. The bottoms were slightly torn and there were almost-holes in the knees. Besides that, they fit quite nicely and didn't drag on the floor. There was a brown belt to go with the jeans if needed, but Lilaya just put it on for show. She tucked the white t-shirt in and slipped the plaid purple button-up long sleeved shirt that had the sleeves rolled up over top. The blonde made her way out of the bathroom and grabbed an extra towel to put her hair into to dry off.

Which brought her to where she was now.

Shazer shook her head in response to Lilaya's question.

"No," she said, warning lacing her tone. "Never wake Josh up unless it's an emergency. Besides, he's probably dead tired." She uncrossed her legs, which were also clad in jeans, although looked to be of a finer material than Lilaya's. The brunette had a black belt on to keep the pants up, and the hem dragged on the floor. She had a short-sleeved green t-shirt on that had a faded logo that was murder on Lilaya's dyslexic eyes and she couldn't even read. The shirt was quite long at the bottom but made Shazer look more at home instead of stiff formal fancier clothes.

Shazer got up from where she sat on the bed she slept on last night and made her way to the door. "I'm going to check things out and make sure this isn't a trap," she said before leaving, not giving Lilaya a chance to respond.

The blonde rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. Paranoid to the bone, Shazer and Josh were. Although, Josh seemed to have trusted Katherine a whole lot more after she told them her name. She wondered why.

Shrugging it off, Lilaya walked over to the body-length mirror in the room and smiled widely at her reflection. Pulling a face, the blonde tried different ridiculous poses and twisted her face in different ways before giggling. She put her thumbs in the jean pockets and tried to look serious, but her modeling scene was shut off when she felt something inside the pocket.

Frowning thoughtfully, the blonde stuck her hand in all the way and gently pulled out whatever it was. She examined it closely and rolled it between her fingers, looking at the folded up piece of paper she had pulled out. Deciding that it might not be anything too big, she opened it up and read it.

The paper was creased and worn, as if someone had opened and reopened it several times. Lilaya's eyes were glued to the penned words on the thin material, taking them in.

Amarti sempre, mamma.

Lilaya's eyebrows furrowed as she read the words again and again.

What the heck is that suppose to mean? she thought, feeling stupid. The only word she recognized there was mom. It was a note that was obviously written for or by Katherine, and a wave of guilt Lilaya had been repressing had hit her full force.

What if it had been a deep, heartfelt message meant only for Katherine and her daughter's eyes? What if it was written by her mysterious daughter?

Lilaya sunk to her knees before flopping onto her back on the soft carpeted floor.

"I'm such a jerk," she groaned, throwing a hand over her eyes in shame.

When Shazer had left the room, she meandered down the hallway, peeking into closed doors and seeing if she could put together any clues.

What Lilaya didn't seem to understand was that in the world of demigods, gods, and monsters, an incredibly kind mortal that would take a teenager, or group of teenagers in without question was usually a bloodthirsty monster. Not always, but most of the time.

So, taking their awful luck into consideration, Shazer deduced that this was obviously a trap and they could be killed any moment.

Shazer quietly cracked another room open and peeked inside. What met her brown eyes was what looked like an art room, filled with paints that were set off on counters, jars filled with paintbrushes, and easels with canvases set up on them, gray-white sheets covering the actual art from being seen.

Curiosity getting a hold of her, Shazer cautiously stepped into the room, eyes darting about like something might pop out any moment and attack her. When anything failed to do so, however, she stepped fully into the room and slowly walked around.

A thin layer of dust covered the supplies, showing that the room had been cleaned in the past, but maybe not for a week or so. The brunette teenage girl ran a finger over one of the counter tops, lips pursing in distaste when the dust came onto her finger.

"I really need to clean this room."

Shazer nearly jumped out of her skin and spun around quickly, eyes wide in shock and her lips formed in an 'O' shape. Katherine stood in the doorway, a sad look in her eyes as she took in the room around them. She was wearing jeans and a blue shirt that had small paint splatters on it and looked like it had seen many hard days.

"Oh—I—I didn't mean to—" Shazer's hands fluttered around, gesturing to everything as she fumbled over her words with cheeks flamed in embarrassment. She didn't know why, but when she saw that soft look in the older woman's eyes, she felt immensely guilty for intruding.

Katherine gave her a reprimanding look. "Didn't I tell you that the third floor was off-limits?"

Shazer felt her ears go red. That was right. She had made her way upstairs, hadn't she?

"I, um, was just curious and—" The demigoddess was cut off when she heard Katherine snort, trying to hold in a laugh before giving up and letting out her chuckles, the sound beautiful and bell-like.

"Whaaaat?" Shazer said with her mouth hanging open, obviously confused.

Katherine, still chuckling, waved her off. "Oh, dear, don't worry about it. You are all teenagers. I didn't expect you to follow my rules to a 'T'. I was your age once too, you know," she added in afterthought, giving Shazer a teasing wink. Her face slowly turned more serious, but now there was a fond smile on her face as she looked around the room. "Honestly child, I'm glad you came in here. If I hadn't been wandering down here a few moments earlier and seen the open door, I don't think I would have ever been able to set foot in this room again."

"What do you mean?" the brunette blurted before she could get control of that wire in her head that seemed to be directly attached from her brain to her mouth. What she thought just sort of came out.

Katherine's grin widened and she leaned against the wall, looking happy to explain. "I had fallen into this sort of rut, you see. Since a few weeks back, I just couldn't make myself step foot in this room because it held too many painful memories. I would avoid it most every day or sometimes I would work up enough courage to stand in front of the door, but never touch the handle." She suddenly looked ashamed in herself. "I would stand there for hours a day, trying to force myself to open the door and just take a look inside or clean things up, but I could never do it. I would think, 'Maybe tomorrow. Maybe then I'll have the courage', but I never did. It was the same thing every day."

"If you don't mind me asking," Shazer said, being more considerate now. "What is under all these tarps?" She gestured with her hand at all the covered paintings for emphasis.

Katherine beamed. "I'm so glad you asked," she gushed. "I never got to show my baby's work off to anyone." She nearly skipped over to a painting and tossed her head to signal Shazer to come closer, which the girl obliged to. With a great swoosh, the tarp was pulled off from the paining, and Shazer's jaw dropped as she took in the picture.

It looked more like a photo, but was obviously painted very carefully. A proud black stallion galloped through long green grass, caught in mid jump as it gracefully posed for the picture. A little white horse was beside it, looking more frail and sickly but seemed to have an unspoken power of awe and mystery beside it, even through the picture. It was so detailed and perfect, that Shazer couldn't stop herself from gently touching the painting with her index and ring finger, completely in awe.

When she snapped out of her trance, she looked at Katherine with a heavy blush.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Shahar," she rushed out. "I didn't mean to touch it—it just looked so real I couldn't help myself—"

Katherine once again cut her off with a happy laugh, eyes sparkling merrily. "Don't worry about it, child," she soothed. "Oh, and call me Katherine, okay? When people call me Mrs. Shahar, it makes me feel like my mom."

Shazer smiled slowly. "Okay, Katherine."

The black haired woman looked extremely pleased. "And it really is no big deal. You didn't damage it in any way, so I don't care if you touch any of the paintings that catch your interest as long as you don't ruin them."

The brunette demigoddess was pleasantly surprised by the woman's reaction. "Thank you."

Katherine waved her off, but just as she was about to say something, Shazer's stomach spoke and chose that moment to growl like an angered bear.

Katherine smirked while Shazer blushed and put her hands over her stomach, like that would be able to stop the noise it had just made.

"I think we'd better take a break and go downstairs to start breakfast," the woman suggested, humor dancing in her eyes. "What do you say to helping me with the preparations? You can ask me questions downstairs."

Shazer didn't even pause to consider it.

"That sounds great."

Lilaya went downstairs some time later, once the smell of cooking sausages reached her nostrils. Her stomach growled in complaint and she finally noticed how hungry she was. When was the last time she ate?

Shivers crawled up Lilaya's spine when her bare feet touched the hardwood floor at the bottom of the stairs. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling, she continued on, following her nose and trying to pinpoint the place where the delicious smell was coming from. Low murmurs of voices and muffled laughter could be heard shortly after, and the blonde girl rose a curious eyebrow. Who was talking?

Lilaya pinpointed the source of both the noise and the smell. It came from behind a flimsy thin door painted white that had no handle. Gently pushing it open, the girl took a step inside and a smile tugged at her lips as her eyes took in the scene in front of her.

Shazer and Katherine were making breakfast with their backs to her, the brunette teenager managing the sausages with a spatula and an apron tied around her waist while Katherine mixed the eggs, an apron tied onto her as well. They seemed to be deeply engaged in a conversation and Katherine was doing most of the talking. The raven haired woman used her hands to animate the story she seemed to be telling and had a wide grin on her face.

"—let that horse just ride away and it didn't come back for hours on end. I was so mad I could barely speak."

Shazer was nearly doubled over in laughter. "No way."

Katherine nodded, looking smug. "I can show you him after, if you want. I always take the kids riding when I get the chance. I teach a class in the afternoons, you see. Cute little things just love that."

Shazer grinned widely and used the back of her hand to push up her glasses that were falling down her nose. "I'd love that."

"Great," Katherine said, clapping her hands together. "Now, why don't we—" The woman cut herself off when she saw Lilaya standing awkwardly in the doorway, seemingly unsure of what to do. "Oh, come in, come in!" she greeted, making Shazer turn around to see who she was talking to. "We were just making breakfast. Want to be a dear and watch these eggs while I set the table and prepare some fruit?"

Lilaya blushed lightly. "Sure."

"Great!" Katherine practically cheered, handing her the whisk. "You know how to make eggs?"

Lilaya nodded shyly.

"Fantastic."

The blonde demigoddess took over the task of finishing mixing the eggs before pouring them into the large pan, careful not to spill. Shazer leaned over to her friend with sparkling eyes.

"She's so cool," she said in a hushed voice. "She would make a great mom."

Lilaya took a look at the woman that was flying around the kitchen and had already set up all the plates and cups and was in the process of getting the last of the silverware set down.

"She seems nice," Lilaya whispered back, unsure of how to correctly respond.

Shazer nodded, seemingly pleased with her answer, before flipping a sausage over.

They worked in comfortable silence for a moment while Lilaya slowly stirred the eggs around, Shazer flipped sausages, and Katherine set the beverages on the table.

"Alright," the woman said, breaking the silence, "I've got milk, water, orange juice, grape juice, and lemonade. You can take your pick."

"Water," Shazer said, at the same time Lilaya said, "Lemonade."

Katherine let out an airy laugh and pulled out a bowl from one of the top cupboards in the kitchen, opening up the fridge and pulling out some fruit.

"You remind me so much of Peyton, Lilaya," she said, before adding, "May I call you Lilaya? You can call me Katherine in return. I just don't know what else to call you if not by name."

Lilaya gave the kind woman a gentle smile. "That sounds fine."

"Thank you," the curly haired woman said unnecessarily, on her knees by the fridge and throwing apples, oranges, pomegranates, peaches, and nectarines into the large plastic bowl. "Anyway, what was I saying before? Oh, yes. You remind me so much of my daughter. That was one of her favorite outfits you have on—" Hello, guilt. Lilaya missed you. "—and she always loved lemonade at breakfast, too. It was lemonade at breakfast and lunch, water inbetween, and milk at dinner. Same thing every day." She stood up when her bowl was filled and set it neatly at the center of the table like it was a floral arrangement.

"Where's your friend?" she asked curiously, seemingly just noticing that their black haired male companion was missing. "Is he still asleep?"

Lilaya and Shazer looked at each other at the same time, shrugged, and turned back to Katherine.

"I guess," Shazer said, looking confused. "It's already ten though, right? He never sleeps in that long."

Katherine looked thoughtful. "Well, Shazer, why don't you go check on him? It's about time to wake up anyway and I'm sure he'll want to eat. Breakfast is already almost done. Why don't you tell him to get ready and then come down?"

Shazer nodded, handing the spatula over to the woman she had quickly grown to admire.

"I'll be right back," she promised before heading out of the room like a woman on a mission.

Lilaya stirred the eggs around in the pan for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a few seconds. The folded paper she had put back into the pocket of her jeans felt like a dead weight. Unable to take what felt like pressing seconds any longer, the blonde gently set the spatula she had been using on the stove and turned to the woman that was managing the sausages with rapt attentiveness.

"Mrs. Shahar?" Lilaya spoke, her voice coming out softer than she had expected.

The woman blinked in mystification and when her eyes found Lilaya's shy form, she smiled kindly. "Lilaya darling, I must insist that you call me Katherine. Anything else seems far too formal."

Ignoring the kind woman's attempt to lighten the mood, the blonde girl reached into the pocket of the jeans, pulling out the faded paper and cupping it gently in her hands. The woman with black curly hair eyed the girl cautiously, not sure how to respond.

"I found this in the pocket of these pants upstairs," Lilaya said gently. "I don't know what it means, but I figured you might want it."

Reaching forward, the woman gently plucked the paper from the teenager's hand and opened it up with agonizingly slow movements. With shaking hands, she read the words on the paper slowly and carefully, tracing each curve of every letter with her eyes. To Lilaya's astonishment, the woman's eyes began overflowing with tears and spilling down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry!" the girl panicked. How do you deal with a fully grown woman crying.

Sniffling, Katherine gave out a watery laugh. She didn't say anything for a moment, simply walking over to a cupboard and pulling out a serving plate before piling the sausages onto it. Lilaya's anxiety built, but she didn't dare break the silence.

Did I do something wrong? she mentally cried. Oh, no! I'm such an idiot! Why did I show her the paper? I should have just pretended I didn't see it!

"Thank you," Katherine whispered, breaking off Lilaya's mental meltdown. "You and your friends have helped me in ways that I never thought possible. I'm so glad I decided to take you in. You're healing a broken heart."

Lilaya bit her lip and tilted her head slightly in question. When Katherine's eyes caught the movement, tears began flowing faster down her cheeks, making the blonde teen panic again.

"You are so much like Peyton it's almost unreal," Katherine explained, trying to catch the tears that fell by wiping her hands under her eyes, but it didn't work. They continuously spilled down her cheeks and dripped off her chin. Unexpectedly, Katherine took a step forward and enveloped Lilaya in a motherly hug, filling the girl with warmth.

"Thank you so much," she said softly. "I use to write these papers with Peyton all the time. We'd leave them in little places like the laundry room, the library, the art room, I'd place them in her lunchbox when I was making her lunch in the morning. This message says: Love you always, mom. She wrote it." Tears soaked Lilaya's shoulder, but she didn't mind. She could literally fill the motherly love and pain seeping out of this woman, so she hugged her tighter and closed her eyes as if that would help lift the unseen burden from her shoulders. "I guess she never got to give it to me."

Pulling back, Lilaya saw that the woman's eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she still looked extremely happy.

"Enough emotional stuff, now," Katherine said, slightly flustered from crying on a teenager's shoulder. "Let's get this table set."

Lilaya complied with a soft smile and a silent nod.

Josh sprung up from his bed, a haze of panic clouding his mind. He scrambled as if to get away from someone and ended up falling onto the floor, his back hitting the ground with force and driving the air from his lungs. His chest rapidly rose and fell as he tried to get air into his lungs and set his mind straight.

It was just a nightmare, it was just a nightmare, it was just a nightmare...

The black haired boy squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to put order into his frazzled mind. He remembered now. He was Josh Adams, son of Pluto. His friends were Claudia, Shazer, and Jacob. Claudia was the legacy of Apollo, Shazer was the daughter of Neptune, and Jacob was—... He lived with his cohort, who he considered family. The teenage boy took a deep breath of air into his lungs as all his memories came flooding back to him, giving him the mother of all headaches and making stars dance before his closed eyes.

His name wasn't Clio. His parents weren't farmers that constantly encouraged him to get a relationship with a girl that would never love him back. His friends weren't Amethyst, Ajax, Klaasr, Risto, and Sinon. He didn't live in a spacious but small village where he worked himself to the bone from eleven in the morning to eight at night with two ten minute breaks. He wasn't attacked by that girl who had turned into a monster. He just had a nightmare.

Despite these thoughts, the son of Pluto couldn't help but think that it had all felt so real. He knew Amethyst, Ajax, Klaasr, Risto, and Sinon by their looks, he knew how each of them acted - all of it, right down to what their favorite colors were. He even felt nothing but pure terror overcome him when the girl had changed and become something so horrible it would stay imprinted in his brain forever, because the moment he looked into those horrible eyes, he saw his fate. Right when he looked into those eyes that foretold of unspeakable horror, he knew that he was going to die right then and there, and she was going to kill him. He still remembered her mocking words as she dug her knife into his flesh, down to the bone.

"You said you love me, huh? I love you, too. The taste of your blood is just so delicious." A bone-chilling laugh. "Do you see where love gets you now, boy? We were never meant to be. Love in nothing but a joke. But, you did say that your heart was mine to take, and that is an offer I simply cannot refuse."

As he remembered the words, pain spiked in his chest and he fisted the fabric over his heart tightly. It pounded hard against his ribcage as if trying to pound its way out of his chest.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Josh?" Shazer said, sounding concerned and curious. "Are you awake yet? It's ten o'clock in the morning."

Thu-thump. Thu-thump. Thu-thump.

The boy found himself unable to respond as he tried to regulate his breathing, his mind still reeling from the terrifying dream.

"Josh?" Shazer's voice was thick with panic now. "I'm opening the door."

The black haired boy kept his eyes closed as he heard the door swing open. Shazer gasped in panic and slight horror. The brunette rushed to his side, kneeling beside him and shaking him gently, even though her words were frantic.

"Josh? Josh?! Oh my gods, Josh! Answer me, please! Are you okay? Do you need help?" the words tumbled from Shazer's lips in a huge gasp.

Blindly reaching up, the boy slapped a hand over his friends mouth to silence her and breathed deeply for a few more moments before he cracked his eyes open and gave her a weak glare.

"It's too early in the morning to be shouting like that," he stated in a flat voice, lips pulling down into a frown.

Yanking his hand off her mouth, Shazer gave a sigh and her shoulders sagged in relief.

"You really worried me for a minute there, you know?" the brunette said in a softer voice. "What happened?"

Knifes. Blood. An arrow.

Josh opened his eyes all the way, his heart rate slowing down, although it was a bit faster than normal.

"None of your business," he said waspishly, still feeling the sting on his chest where the knife had dug into his skin. He pushed himself off the ground and stretched out his sore limbs.

"Oh, well Katherine said that it was time for breakfast and to tell you to come down when you were ready," she said, use to his secretive moods by now. Prying would only make it worse. "You have free reign of the shower and there should be clothes on the sink counter."

Shazer had seen them there earlier when she was getting out of the bathroom. There was a yellow sticky note on them with For your boy friend written on it in fancy, curled letters.

"Thank you," Josh said automatically, more out of habit than actual thanks. His mind was far to frazzled to think straight right now.

Shazer closed her eyes and smiled widely. "No problem. Come down and eat when your done."

Knowing that her friend would want privacy, Shazer politely left the room and closed the door behind her.

Josh sighted and ran a hand through his tangled hair. He was short with Shazer and he knew it, even though he had no right to be. It wasn't like she knew what went on in his dreams.

He had never had a dream like that before. He could literally feel his life draining out of him and sending his soul back to his father when the girl had carved him like a pumpkin. He had so many questions.

Why did it feel so real? Why couldn't he remember who he was? Why did he still remember every detail of Clio's life? Why did he even have the dream in the first place?

Demigod dreams were important. He knew that. They usually foreshadowed an event that would take a large place in the future. Dreams were never meaningless to a demigod. Some were even said to have dreamt about their fate before they died.

He shuddered at the thought.

Did that mean he was going to have his chest cavity opened with someone's pocket knife, or maybe a monster would cut him open with a claw? He hoped not. Whenever he thought about death, he never thought it would be a big deal. He died once before—he could handle it again. But... When she had actually started cutting him, he had never felt something more terrifying in his life. It tied with the events that happened in his past, if not beat it.

To see your friends that were as close to you as brothers be so brutally murdered...

One had their eyes torn out with the blunt wooden shaft of an arrow, one at a time. Another got stabbed in the throat. One got crushed to death. One was stabbed repeatedly in the shoulder before the killer had moved to his collar bone and finally his neck, slashing it open.

Josh shuddered and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he left the room.

No one should be forced to have such a fate. He wouldn't even with that on his worst enemy. Without a doubt, the son of Pluto knew he was going to be seeing that in his nightmares and even while he was awake for many months to come, if not years. It was so vivid, like he was actually there and experiencing that life.

Walking into the bathroom, the black haired teen stepped onto the cold tiled floor and let the shock of it wake him up a little. He stayed in the shower for fifteen minutes before getting out and getting dressed with the clothes that were right where Shazer had said they would be.

Jeans and a plain black shirt. Just his style.

The clothes fit him surprisingly well, even if they were a bit long. It was fine, though. He would still be able to run and move around freely.

The demigod thought as he rummaged around through the drawers in the bathroom, looking for a brush for his tangled hair.

"How curious," he muttered when he found something that caught his eye. He read it before pocketing it and quickly running the brush he found in one of the other drawers through his hair.

Walking downstairs, Josh took his time examining the house. It was nicely furnished and well taken care of, but there were no pictures in this hallway. He guessed that they were just downstairs where the entry hallway was. He'd have to ask Mrs. Shahar to show them to him later.

Chattering voices could be heard from a room past a few hallways, so Josh followed the noise and pushed open a thin door with no handle to see quite a sight.

Mrs. Shahar, Lilaya, and Shazer were all almost done eating breakfast and chatting admirably, like this was just another morning in the house and they had grown up here their whole lives. Josh raised and inquisitive eyebrow. What had made them trust the woman so quickly? He had his reasons, of course, (namely her last name and daughter's name, for one) but he couldn't help but be curious about why they were so taken with her.

"Ah, Josh!" Shazer said happily when she saw him. Her hair was whipped back into a ponytail (which was strange because it wasn't in one when she had come into his room earlier) to keep it out of her face and for the first time, he noticed how happy she looked. Last night she had been in a sour mood and they had argued quite a lot, but now she acted as if that never happened.

Mrs. Shahar turned around and grinned when she saw him. "Hi, Josh! I'm not sure if you caught it last night but I'm Katherine. You must have been really tired to sleep in this long so I wasn't sure if you remembered much from yesterday because of exhaustion."

"I'm fine," he said awkwardly.

Lilaya grinned, apparently noticing his discomfort.

"Come on, Josh!" she said invitingly. "Katherine doesn't bite! In fact, we were talking about going to the ranch outside her house after this. Isn't that exciting? She's going to teach us how to ride horses!"

The boy in question stiffened considerably. "I don't think that—"

"C'mon, Josh," Shazer whined. "We never get to do anything fun! It's just for a day. Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaase?"

He sighed in defeat, knowing when he had lost a battle. "Fine."

Shazer clapped. "Yes!"

"I, however, will not be going with you," he added, sitting down at the place set for him at the table and dishing himself up.

Shazer's smile faltered. "Why not?"

Josh started eating the food. It was really good. "I have business to attend to."

"Anything I can help with?" Katherine asked, taking a bite of her food.

"Yes, actually," Josh said after he swallowed. He twirled the fork in his hand thoughtfully.

Lilaya was frowning. "Should we stay as well?"

"No," Josh said automatically. "This is something that needs to be discussed alone."

Shazer looked like she was about to protest, but Katherine spoke up before a potential argument could begin.

"I've got it!" she said, ever the enthusiast. "Why don't you two go out by the ranch and wait for the kids to arrive? Just tell them that you are there to play with them before I get out there, okay? They'll love you, I'm sure." She checked the small watch on her wrist. "Hurry and finish up. The class starts in twenty minutes."

Shazer and Lilaya exchanged unsure glances.

"Go on," Katherine encouraged. "It's not like anything bad is going to happen."

No one looked quite sure of that fact except for Katherine. Still, the two girls did as requested and silently stood up from the table when they were finished and left the room.

Neither Josh nor Katherine spoke until they heard the click of the front door. Katherine sat silently, watching Josh with cautious eyes while he finished his food.

They sat in silence for a moment longer, Katherine's mood a lot from what it was before. A serious aura surrounded her, not the bubbly kind one that seemed to pour from her very being before.

"I would like to talk about your daughter," Josh said softly, cutting straight to the point. There was no point in avoiding the topic. Dancing around the topic wouldn't get him anywhere, nor get him the information he wanted—needed.

Katherine stiffened and a guard went up around her eyes. "What about her?"

Josh turned in his chair to fully face her, eyes narrowed slightly. "How old was she when she disappeared?"

Katherine's eyes went dramatically wide. "How did you know she disappeared?"

Josh crossed his arms. "It wasn't very hard to figure out, although it did require some thinking on my part. If your daughter simply went to a different school, you wouldn't act how you did when you talked about her. She was too attached to you to run away, from what I deduced on the note in the bathroom."

The woman's jaw dropped slightly. "What note—?"

"Left side. Second drawer down. Stuck on the brush I used was a torn piece of scratch paper that said Buongiorno, mamma! Vedervi dopo scuola. I can't speak Italian fluently, but that is one of the closest languages to Latin, and I know how to read it. That phrase translates into: Good morning, mom. See you after school."

Katherine covered her mouth with a hand and her eyes shone with tears.

"I don't believe that someone who had a bad relationship with their mother would run away. You seemed to have an abnormally close relationship with your daughter than most parents have with their children. Most causes for children running away from home show that they are usually in their teens and have weak relationships with their parents or are bullied at school. You live in a nice town, Mrs. Shahar. No matter how tired I was last night, I could tell that this is a very homey village. You don't seem the type to just let anyone get away with hurting your daughter either, so that ruled that theory out. Even if she did try to hide the bullying from you, you would find out anyway. I'll ask again: how old was she when your daughter disappeared?"

A tear ran down Katherine's cheek. "Quite the detective, aren't you? Did you figure that out yesterday?"

"This morning," Josh said, face tightening. "Please answer the question. This will not be one-sided, I assure you. I have some information that will interest you as well."

Katherine leaned forward, shock written all over her face. "Do you know something about my daughter? Please, if you know something, you have to tell me!"

"Answer the question," Josh said stubbornly. "How old was your daughter when she disappeared?"

Katherine leaned back, not pressing the issue. Standing up from her chair, she paced back and forth behind the chair and tugged on her hair. "Peyton was eight when she disappeared." Her eyes glazed over, showing that she was taking part in the conversation but her mind was somewhere else. She stopped pacing and rested her forearms on the chair.

"The morning was just like any other. Peyton woke up and got ready, writing little notes and sticking them around the house before I woke up.

"She always got up earlier than me, you see. I was working late night shifts to provide money for me and the twins. I was a single mother with no husband and three kids to provide for, so I often worked late night shifts. Peyton took care of Pentele and Caio anytime she wasn't at school because I couldn't afford a babysitter. I had a household to pay for and three kids to take care of, plus myself." She choked on a sob. "She was such a good sister. So attentive and understanding. Everyone in the neighborhood loved her. She was so shy though and you could rarely catch her in any pictures.

"Everything went by as normal from there. I woke up around noon—the same time I usually did and quite a few hours after Peyton had already left. Pentele and Caio were playing quietly in the playroom like normal so I fed them lunch and got ready.

"Peyton got home later and helped me make dinner before helping me put the twins to bed at nine. I left for work at the hospital a few hours from here right after and when I got back in the morning, she was asleep in bed. I got back at six thirty in the morning.

"It couldn't have been more than an hour after I fell asleep that I had woken up to the twins screaming. They were just toddlers, so I kept a child-proof handle on their door so that they wouldn't sneak out at night and be so mischievous. I thought it was strange because Peyton always got up and got them ready at this time.

"I remember this like it just happened this morning and I doubt I'll ever forget it. I remember everything everything so clearly I find myself wishing I could forget.

"I looked over at the clock and saw that it was seven thirty. I got up, angry—" She paused to take a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. "I was so angry that I had woken up when I got no sleep last night. I worked the orchard in the back all day when I wasn't watching the twins, so I thought that I had a right to be angry.

"I went to the twins room and got them ready before I went to Peyton's room to give her a piece of my mind. I didn't know if she had slept in or what, but I didn't care at the moment. I stormed in and saw—" She broke off, sobbing.

Josh leaned forward anxiously. "Saw what?"

Katherine covered her face with her hands and continued sobbing, trying to get a hold of her emotions.

"Mrs. Shahar, this is important. What did you see?"

"I—I saw—" Katherine took a shuddering breath and rubbed her eyes with her hands. "Nothing. I saw absolutely nothing. Her bed was not made, which I thought was strange, since she always made her bed in the mornings. I didn't think much of it and just thought that she was somewhere else, so I looked all over the third floor. The bathroom, the art room, everywhere she normally was. That's when my anger started to fade to panic.

"I searched all over the house, yelling her name and running as fast as I could go. I even went outside and searched every inch of my property. I went to the schoolhouse. I asked people in the neighborhood. We had a search that lasted for twenty-four hours straight." She swallowed thickly. "I reported her disappearance to the police. They said they would keep an eye out for her. Can you believe that? I report that my baby girl is missing and they said that they would tell me if they saw her. I gave them the information on her and gave them one of the pictures of her that I had. The next week I went there, they didn't even remember me. The stupid ass police forgot my daughter. Only the kids in town remember her. You can ask any of the adults here, but they won't even remember her name. I don't even know if my daughter is alive."

"Where are your twins now, Mrs. Shahar?" Josh asked, nervousness building up inside him as he listened with his attention solely focused on the story.

"At their aunt's house," she sniffled. "They're staying there for the week like they do every three months. She's my sister named Emily and she's a year older than I am."

Josh stood up, hands in his pockets. Even though his appearance was calm on the outside, he was beyond frazzled on the inside. This tale was starting to paint a picture he didn't want to understand.

"May I see a picture of your daughter?" he asked.

Katherine nodded tearfully and led him out of the room. Through a few connecting doors and a hallway, they came into the television room. Sitting by the TV was a framed picture that the black haired boy couldn't see because of the light reflecting off of the glass was creating a glare on the picture.

The curly haired woman gently took the frame off the shelf and hugged it to her chest while walking back to Josh before holding the frame out to him silently. He complied with the action by taking it carefully from her hands and inspecting it with sharp eyes.

Sitting in the photo was a little girl with perfect white teeth, grinning widely at the camera. She was standing next to a horse that was painted black and white, hugging it around it's neck. A hood covered her face, but only just shadowed her eyes. Her black curly hair was braided into a side braid. The skin that was visible was extremely pale.

Josh's thumbs rubbed the edges of the frame as he studied the picture for minutes.

"Well?" Katherine's voice was desperate borderline hysterical. "Do you recognize her?"

A pregnant pause filled the room.

"Yeah," Josh finally said in a whisper. "Yeah, I know her."

"Where is she?" Katherine gasped, grabbing Josh's wrists in strong but gentle hands, callused from years of hard work. "Please, if you know anything, let me know!" Tears dripped from onto the glass of the frame.

Josh looked up at the woman's teary eyes and his heart nearly broke.

"I don't know how to tell you this," the black haired boy said, biting the inside of his cheek. "I met your daughter nearly two years ago, Mrs. Shahar."

Katherine let out a soft gasp of shock but kept silent other than that.

"She didn't seem to remember you. When I talked to her, she said that she wondered what it would be like to have family. She said she doesn't have any."

Katherine let go of Josh's wrists and collapsed onto the nearest couch, putting her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry," Josh said sincerely, knowing how pathetic that word alone could be. "I know how it feels to have someone you care about taken from you."

"I think I need a minute," Katherine said, shaking.

Josh left the room silently and decided to take a walk. Katherine Shahar wasn't the only one to think about the events that had just transpired.

Lilaya wrung her hands nervously as they walked down the dirt path that ran along the side of the house to the barn. A fence surrounded part of the property around the barn to allow the horses a place to run without getting out.

"Should we have left them alone together?" Lilaya fretted.

Shazer pursed her lips in thought and a crease appeared between her eyebrows. "It's okay... I think. I mean, Josh isn't dumb. He knows what to say in certain situations if it's serious." She shot Lilaya a wry smile. "What he doesn't know how to handle, however, is emotional girls. I swear, that boy is a total sap. You'd think he grew up in the 1800's or something."

The pretty blonde teenager laughed. "I'm sure he's not that bad."

Shazer looked at her incredulously. "You really haven't seen him go into gentlemen mode, have you?"

Lilaya snorted. "'Gentlemen mode'?" she quoted, grinning. "What is that suppose to mean?"

Shazer stuck her tongue out as she thought. "Well, sometimes he uses really big words or context that no one uses anymore. Or sometimes he'll just defend you without getting all out of control like most boys." Shazer put her hands behind her head as she walked. "You'll see it sometime, trust me. Everyone does."

"Everyone?" Lilaya repeated dubiously.

"Everyone," Shazer said, nodding in affirmative.

The blonde girl shrugged. "Well, okay then."

They came upon the door to the barn and stopped outside it.

"You ready for this?" the brunette asked, pushing her glasses further up on the bridge of her nose, making the lenses flash as the sunlight hit them off the right angle.

Lilaya crossed her arms seriously. "I use to help babysit some kids in the neighborhood, like, once every five months."

"I have little to no experience with small children. Ever dealt with horses?"

"Er, no. I've pet one at a fair before. It was tiny. How about you?"

"I've pet horses but I've never been on one. Katherine just made it sound so simple."

"So in other words we're screwed," Lilaya summed up, nodding slightly and looking completely serious.

"Pretty much," Shazer agreed, crossing her arms.

"Shall we go in now?" Lilaya asked, dramatically sweeping her arms and gesturing to the inside of the barn. "Our doom awaits."

Shazer nodded resolutely. "Yes, let's."

The two girls walked in stiffly together, as if they were walking to their own execution instead of to a barn to entertain children for a few minutes until their mentor got back from talking to their friend who was most likely grilling the poor woman for answers.

The inside of the barn was quite large. The rafters on the ceiling stretched far above their heads and there were numerous stalls, each rather wide and contained majestic stallions with different colors and what looked like different breeds.

"Holy shi—"

Shazer slapped a hand over Lilaya's mouth, cutting off her words.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Shazer warned. "You'll ruin the moment with your dirty mouth."

Both stood there for a good thirty seconds, admiring the area they had stepped into.

"This is freaking awesome," Shazer said in awe. "I never thought I would be in a place like this."

Lilaya nodded in agreement, too stunned to move until an obnoxiously high-pitched voice behind them spoke in a snooty voice.

"What are you two doing?"

Shazer and Lilaya both turned around, the brunette's hand dropping from her friend's face in the process.

A child stood a few feet away in the front of the group, looking around seven or eight years old. He was dressed in jeans and a plain t-shirt and had a handful of kids around the same age standing behind him. A boy that looked like an older clone of the boy that was fifteen or sixteen years old stood beside him. He had the same spiked brown hair and ice blue eyes and his face had the same superior look as the child's. He would have been handsome if he didn't look like a total jerk.

"Are you both stupid or something?" boy continued, a haughty look on his face. "Have you never seen the inside of a barn before?"

Shazer and Lilaya turned to each other and gave one another looks that mirrored what they were both thinking.

This kid was a brat and they were going to have a hard time not strangling him.

"Where's Katherine?" the older boy asked, voice more masculine and actually soothing to listen to. Well, it would be if he didn't sound like a pompous idiot.

"Busy," Shazer said, crossing her arms over her chest and giving the boy an unimpressed look. "Who are you?"

The boy's ego seemed to swell even more and Lilaya silently pitied the boy. How did he make it through the door with such a big head?

"I," he stated dramatically, "am Daunte Bouge. This is my little brother, Corrado. He is here for Katherine's riding lessons."

"Uh, huh," Lilaya said in the same tone as Shazer. "Well, she's kinda busy right now, so I'm afraid you're stuck with us until further notice."

The little boy crossed his arms and stomped his foot, clearly throwing a tantrum.

"I don't want these fools!" he whined loudly, making Shazer and Lilaya twitched. "I want miss Katherine!"

"I know, Corrado," Daunte said, patting his little brother's shoulder with a sympathetic look on his face.

Shazer clenched her fists. "Why I outta—"

Lilaya held her friend back as she went to charge the unsuspecting boy. It wasn't Shazer she was worried about. She could pound that poor sucker to dust if she was angry enough. But they were doing Katherine a favor, and they would not screw this up. No matter how badly they wanted to pound annoying brats into the ground.

Daunte sniffed haughtily. "I shall stick around and wait until Katherine gets back. You two don't look certified to look after a bunch of children, let alone yourselves." His eyes scanned them up and down and he wrinkled his nose in distaste. "It's a miracle you two can even dress yourselves in the morning."

Lilaya sighed forlornly. This was going to be a long day.

_I feel something so right, doing the wrong thing,_

_And I feel something so wrong, doing the right thing_

_I could lie, could lie, could lie_

_Everything that kills me makes me feel alive_

_-OneRepublic, Counting Stars_

* * *

_Rain poured down on the dark streets, almost everyone huddling within the warmth of their homes with the exception of a few stray homeless people and a bundle of gossipers that clung to the sides of buildings for some protection against the crying sky._

_"Did you hear about Jessica?" a woman from the crowd of gossipers hissed lowly, hoping to not be heard by any nosy neighbors that might be sticking their heads out windows to listen in on the conversation._

_Another woman nodded, her black fan open and covering the bottom half of her face. "Yes. I heard she committed suicide just this morning, just after her husband's funeral yesterday."_

_"So tragic!" one of the youngest women of the group cried dramatically, bursting into tears. "All these deaths are so hard to handle!"_

_"Oh, shush, Mel," an older woman that looked remarkably like the crying one said, huffing in irritation. "Although it is quite sad, there is no reason you need to go and act like that."_

_A few people left the streets and went inside to flee from the relentless biting rain that started to pour harder from the dark, ominous clouds overhead, but the group of gossipers remained._

_"So tragic," Mel repeated, dabbing her eyes with her sleeves to prevent more tears from falling. "Now their child is all alone!"_

_"I do feel bad for the boy," another woman admitted, "but not enough to shed tears over the matter. It is more pity than anything else."_

_"That's not nice, Sara Lyn," the woman next to her chided._

_Sara sniffed and rose her chin in a superior way. "It is only the truth. I won't lie."_

_"I say," the woman with the black fan said, narrowing her eyes and looking at something down the dark street, "is that a person walking down the road at this hour? And a child, no less?"_

_All the women turned to see if what their friend said was true and were shocked to see that it was._

_The quiet clicks of the bottom of the mystery person's shoes hit the rough street with sharp clicks that should have been drowned out by the sound of rain, but were not. As they walked closer, the women were able to see that it was a small girl, looking around twelve or thirteen at most. She was dressed in the most appalling outfit, especially considering the weather, but didn't seem to mind at all. Her skirt was an incredibly bright shade of yellow and appeared to be made of several thick ruffles sewn together, yet the skirt only reached her mid thigh. A soft orange shirt covered her torso, no sleeves on the garment. Socks stretched up to her knees and were red in color. For her shoes, there were short brown boots. She almost danced lazily down the street, looking utterly unconcerned, like it wasn't raining overhead and instead the sky was bright and clear._

_Strangest thing was, try as they might, no one could make out the features on her face._

_"Hello," the youngest of the group called, worried about the young girl getting sick. "Are you lost?"_

_The girl paused a few yards away from the large group, hands poised delicately and one foot off the ground, as if the youngest woman had interrupted her before she could do a pirouette. She tilted her head slowly in question, as if she did not fully understand what words were spoken, so one of the elder woman felt the need to elaborate further._

_"You should get out of the rain," she scolded. "You will surely catch your death staying out here in this weather, especially dressed like that." She had to raise the level of her voice as the rain came down harder, the pounding of water hitting the ground in sheets turning into a crescendo of storm noises._

_Lightening flashed up in the sky, momentarily brightening the area and briefly lighting up the wide smile that stretched the young girl's lips._

_"I'm fine," she assured, voice almost a whisper, but easily being heard by every member of the gossiping group. The wind seemed to work with her voice and carry it over to the ears of the elder women. The musical sound of her voice was soothing to listen to and each person listening relaxed marginally._

_"I was actually just waiting for the finale," she continued, clasping her hands together and sighing almost dreamily. "Soon. Soon it will be over, and I will reach my longest goal."_

_The women blinked, bemused with this strange girl's behavior._

_"All the same," the sister of Mel yelled, hair whipping around her face while being blown about by the wind, "you should head inside. It isn't wise to be out here all alone. There are dangerous people in this city."_

_The young girl's grin widened. "I am well aware." She swung her arms back and forth at her sides in a childish way before she continued walking. "Thank you for your concern," she called, not turning around to look back at the group she left behind._

_The woman with the black fan pursed her lips. "What a strange girl."_

_The others muttered in agreement, no eyes leaving the form of the young maiden until her form faded behind the pouring rain._

_Up ahead, the girl muttered a chilling tune that was unheard to anyone else as she continued on her way, a spring in her step and a cold smile on her face._

* * *

Josh felt somewhat confused by this turn of events. If he was being honest with himself, he was very confused.

He replayed all the information he knew in his head as he walked further down the dirt path he and his friends had taken the other day before they luckily stumbled upon Katherine's house, scuffing his shoes as he moved along.

_How could a girl with a home that happy forget everything she'd had?_ he wondered. _I did not forgot my home, even after I died. But then again, I was a son of Pluto. Wait, could that be it? Lithe brought me back because I was some part of her plan. She knew I'd protect Peyton and Peyton probably was part of her plans too. Could she have brought Peyton back as well, with wiped memories since she wasn't a daughter of Pluto? If Peyton hadn't made it to the Underworld paradise, then she would have forgotten everything she knew. But how did she die, and when, if that is really the answer?_

The idea seemed crazy but it wouldn't leave him. The son of Pluto continued walking down the dirt road until he came to a house that was a good distance away from Katherine's, her faraway neighbor.

Sighing softly, Josh pulled the picture of Peyton he'd pocketed out of his pocket he had snitched on his way out of the house and knocked on the door he'd come too.

"Coming!" an elderly voice called from inside the house. There was noises of shuffling around before the door opened smoothly.

"Excuse me," he said politely when an old man came to the door and he held up Peyton's picture, speaking before the man could get a word out. "Do you recognize this girl?"

The man squinted at the picture and fixed his glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose. "No, lad. I'm sorry but I've never seen her before in my life," the elderly man said in an apologetic way, leaning heavily on the cane in his hand.

"It's fine," Josh assured him, but deep down he couldn't stop the sharp sting of disappointment from blooming in his chest.

"But why you lookin' for her?" the old man asked, concern shining in his eyes that he made no move to hide. "She your sister or something?"

"No," Josh said with a wry chuckle, trying to block out the flood of memories that assaulted his mind at those words. "Both my sisters looked very different from her."

"Looked?" the old man asked, noticing the past tense.

"It's a long story," Josh explained vaguely as he slipped the picture back into his pocket, being careful not to damage the photo. "Thank you for your time but I must be going."

The old man gave him a look of understanding before nodding his consent and slowly closing the door. As Josh turned to walk away, the old man said, "I wish you luck," so softly, he thought he had imagined it. The words made the black haired teenage boy stop short and turn around with his mouth open to reply, but when he looked, the door was shut and there was no trace of a person there.

_Strange, _Josh thought, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. _I didn't even hear the door close. There's something creepy about this town. I've had a weird feeling in my chest the whole time we have been here, like I should be anywhere_but _here._

Turning swiftly, Josh ran off the porch. He ran all the way until he finally reached the next house, and nobody there had seen or heard of Peyton either.

_I need to finish this soon, _Josh thought, gritting his teeth as he ran to the next house after that._I'll get conclusive results, but then we need to get the Jupiter out of here. I have a really bad feeling..._

At the next house, a girl that looked around seventeen opened the door. She was dressed like a farmer, and her brown hair was held back in a ponytail. She had average features, nothing on her face that would really make her stand out from a crowd.

She swung the door open cheerily, like she was expecting a friend to be standing before her, and the cheerful smile on her face faltered when she saw him.

"Can I help you?" she asked cautiously, gripping the side of the door as if she was prepared to slam it in his face.

"Yes," Josh said, running a hand through his hair out of nervous habit. He held out the photo for the girl to see, and she took it cautiously, her eyes not leaving him for a second. "I was wondering if you had seen that girl before."

Slowly the girl pried the photo from his grasp and slowly turned her eyes down onto the image. Her eyes widened in shock and her mouth fell open slightly. That was good. A sign of recognition.

"I-I don't know this girl-" she tried to protest, holding the photo back out for him to take.

"Don't lie to me," Josh snapped, too anxious to deal with this right now. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"I don't-"

"Stop." Josh sighed, briefly closing his eyes before he opened them again. This time they were filled with such determination it would be nearly impossible to try and hide. "It is important. Please, tell me when you saw her last and why no one else in this town seems to remember her. It is important."

The girl looked around cautiously, as if she was afraid someone would overhear, and motioned for Josh to lean closer, to which he complied.

"Listen," she whispered hastily, "I don't know where you got that photo, but clearly you're confused. That girl isn't-" She suddenly cut herself off.

"What?" Josh asked, intensity in his eyes.

The girl looked down, eyes shadowed, and when she looked up a second later, they were wide with fear. Before Josh had the chance to ask her what was wrong, she made small, choking and whimpering noises, before she fell limply to the ground.

Almost on auto pilot, Josh dropped to his knees beside her and gently shook her, trying to get her to respond.

"Get up! Please!" he said frightfully. His hand fluttered over to her neck and for a tense minute he felt for a pulse, only to give up in shock and stare at the girl on the ground with wide eyes when he found none. Her glassy eyes stared at nothing in the distance, and a look of fear was still painted on her face.

Josh sat back, sweating and shaking. "Someone, help! Help!"

Not caring for politeness, the black haired teen sprung up and flew inside the house the girl had just exited from.

"Is someone here? A girl just collapsed on the por-"

The son of Pluto stopped himself short and looked around the house with wide eyes. There was furniture set up just so that someone could see if they looked through one of the windows on the front of the house or saw behind whoever opened the door, but it stopped beyond that. Everything else was utterly void of anything. The walls were plain. The floor didn't even have carpet. A layer of dust covered everything, like the house hadn't been used in months.

He ran back outside, only to see that nothing was there except for small drops of blood. The girl was nowhere in sight.

"What exactly is going on here?" Josh whispered to himself. "We need to get out of here."

* * *

Daunte was actually not such a bad kid when you got to know him, Lilaya decided. Sure he could be thick headed (weren't all boys at some point?), short-tempered (she justified that by saying that everyone could be, and he didn't know them very well, so he didn't have to be polite), and downright rude (...there was nothing she could say to that), but he did care for the kids, and it showed.

When it became clear less than five minutes after the kids met the girls that the two teens had absolutely no idea how to take care of horses, Daunte took over and quickly showed his skill with distracting little kids. He let them pet some of the horses while still keeping a close eye on them, and his eyes softened whenever he looked at his little brother.

"I cannot _believe _Lady Katherine left you to deal with the children. Completely absurd!" Daunte ranted, standing next to Lilaya and Shazer while watching the children as they giggled and played tag inside the barn.

"Why do you call her 'Lady Katerine'?" Lilaya asked, her face scrunched up in confusion. She purposefully ignored his biting remarks at how he clearly thought they were incompetent and instead chose to focus on the fact that he had just used a title that she recognized was to address someone of a high standard for a woman who worked on a farm.

Daunte blinked and tilted his head slightly to the side in a manner that could be described as adorable. "I did?" he muttered, looking shocked. "Ah, well, that is because she is very high up." He suddenly blinked, as if he had been struck, and straightened up before going on a rant again about how he was amazed that they could even dress themselves in the morning, and how they clearly weren't meant to manage a group of kids.

Shazer exchanged a look with Lilaya, one that clearly said: _This guy is nuts, no matter how handsome he may be._

Lilaya stifled a laugh before turning her bright eyes to look at the kids who were running around and playing, clearly enjoying themselves.

"Wonderful kids, are they not?" Daunte said suddenly, shocking both girls.

The two demigoddesses looked at the brunette boy, but his eyes were fixated on the kids.

"They will grow to be strong one day, and fully carry out the duties that are given to them. Kids like this are all the hope we have for out future - a better future. One where all our wishes are fulfilled, and there is eternal peace."

Shazer frowned as she listened to his softly spoken words.

"There is no world like that," she said, finally making him look at her. Lilaya watched uneasily as their eyes met in a heated battle that was fought without words or physical harm.

"There will be no way that everyone can always be happy," she explained further. "We will always have struggles in our lives, but that is what makes us grow. You learn from your mistakes and realize what you have done wrong so that you can change how you did things or change your goal itself. People argue, put each other down, or will purposely do things to make the other person sad. That's just the way things are. But if you don't let it get to you and continue to grow, you will be wiser than you were before."

Lilaya blinked in shock. That was deep, especially for the daughter of Neptune.

Daunte narrowed his eyes a fraction. "But what if there was a way to achieve a world where everyone could be happy?" he challenged. "Where people picked one another up when they made mistakes instead of kicking the person that was already on the ground? That is what I want to achieve. A place where no one is made fun of, even if you want to tease someone. A place where everyone's dreams come true and they are never out of reach."

"But why?" Shazer questioned, crossing her arms. "If everything you ever wanted could be reached, what would you learn? What could you gain? The reason why people work so hard to achieve their dreams is because they have to work for them. In a place where everyone could have anything they wanted, there would never be a struggle to help you grow. That, to me at least, is worse than a place where you could have anything you want."

"Wouldn't it be happier to have everyone get along, though?" Daunte continued, wavering slightly. "If everyone could be happy. Wouldn't it be better if everyone rarely argued and got along? Isn't that better than struggling to survive? People put each other down all the time to reach their own selfish goals. Why wouldn't it be better to live in a world where everyone could reach their own goal without tearing someone else down to get to it?"

Shazer sighed, puffing out her cheeks as she let out a breath of air. Lilaya watched with rapt attention, wondering what her sort-of friend would say to that. Truth was, Lilaya kind of agreed with him. Wouldn't that be so much better?

"I feel like that isn't fair," Shazer said after a pause. "It is true that others tear each other down to gain their own desires, but that is how we make friends and allies. We value things more when we have to work for them, and if you never worked for anything you needed, you wouldn't appreciate it as much. That is why betrayal hurts so much. That is why it makes us cry when we lose a loved one. It is because we appreciate them more when we learned what they have been through and admire their ability to still be so kind. In a world that is peaceful constantly, what would we have to gain? Sure, we wouldn't have to work for anything, but does that really matter? I believe that we need pain and sadness to know happiness, and strife and misery to know peace. Without those, it is simply nothing."

Daunte looked as speechless as Lilaya felt. She had no idea that Shazer could say such heartfelt things.

"Even if eternal peace could be achieved," Shazer continued, "what made you think it could ever be carried out by a human?"

Daunte stumbled over his words for a moment. "Well, I believe that the human mind can accomplish anything it fully sets on."

Shazer nodded. "True, but to have eternal peace, wouldn't everyone need to think that way, instead of just one person? It is easier to stir up chaos than to create peace."

Daunte frowned, a crease between his brow as he thought. "But... she promised."

Lilaya perked up when she heard his muttered words. "Who promised?"

The older boy ignored her, instead choosing to look at the ceiling of the barn as if someone was there. "Did you lie to me, old friend?"

"This guy is crazy," Shazer hissed in Lilaya's ear, as to which the blonde nodded in agreement. But Lilaya wasn't looking at her friend. Her eyes trailed up and followed the brunette boy's gaze, and for a moment she could have sworn she saw a flicker and a flap of red fabric of a cloak before it vanished.

"Daunte!" Corrado called.

The three teens turned their eyes back to look at the kids, and were slightly surprised to see how the kids all stood in strong poses behind Corrado, as if he was the leader of their small group, serious expressions on their faces.

"You aren't questioning our dear friend, are you, big brother?" the younger brunette said, face stony and eyes blank.

Lilaya and Shazer jerked back at seeing such a look on a small child's face.

Daunte swallowed thickly and he paled, looking as if he just remembered something. "Of course not. Don't be silly, brother. I merely got caught up in the moment."

Corrado didn't look convinced, but nodded shortly and turned back to the horse they had been petting in synchronization with the other kids. They were no longer giggling and laughing loudly, but whispering fiercely in hushed voices.

"Oooh-kay," Lilaya said, backing away from the kids by a few steps. "That was freaky."

Shazer didn't say anything, but kept her narrowed eyes on the children.

Lilaya turned to Daunte to gauge his reaction, but his expression was completely blank, with the exception of his face being a bit paler than normal.

The blonde girl felt a hand on her shoulder that made her jump, but before she could turn around, she heard Shazer's determined words whispered in her ear.

"Something isn't right here," the brunette girl said softly. "As soon as Katherine gets here we'll talk to Josh. We might need to leave right away."

Lilaya agreed.

* * *

Katherine cried.

She didn't know how long she sat on the couch for, bawling her eyes out, but she didn't care.

Her baby girl was _alive_. She was _safe_. She... She didn't remember her.

That realization stung deep. Her little Peyton was her whole world, her joy. Through thick and thin that little angel managed to cheer everyone up and never lost sight of what was important. "Family first," she would always say. "The rest will just fall into place later." How Katherine managed to raise such a fine young lady, she would never know. The little girl was wise beyond her years and never complained about not having a father at home, even though Katherine herself often had pity-parties while the kids were asleep, thinking of how much easier it would be if she had a husband to help with the finances and keep the house running.

When Katherine was eighteen years old, she had just graduated from high school and had several acceptance letters from colleges she was invited to attend because of her stunning grades. Back then, she wasn't as she was now. Katherine was short-tempered, easily offended, and hung out with the wrong crowd.

Despite all this, she never once did drugs or alcohol. She had seen the affects of what happened to people who were addicted to the drug, and she swore to herself that that would never be her.

Six weeks after she graduated, Katherine was invited to a party. Having attended many before, she went as she usually did, but there was a difference to this party.

Some of the kids had brought alcohol and mixed it into the drinks for everyone to have. The night was blurry, and when Katherine woke up the next morning, she was alone in an unfamiliar room, and she couldn't find her clothes.

There had been a note on the side table, and even now she could remember its exact words.

_Please do not think ill of me for leaving before you awake. I have things I must attend to but I would stay if I could._

_-P_

That's it. No long, heart-felt apology. No roses. Just two sentences that tore at Katherine's heartstrings and made tears of fear sting her eyes.

She had tried to forget about the incident, drowning her worries in work and cutting ties with her former friends. She clung desperately to her remaining family, her mother, who had skin cancer, and her two sisters also supported her. Her wonderful mother sheltered her in return, never judging her, and she held her while she cried when she found out she was pregnant.

Every step of the way, her mother was right there. She even got to see the birth of her granddaughter before she passed away two months later.

Peyton Lily Shahar. Named in honor of her deceased mother.

But...

But...

...It was a lie.

Everything was a lie, fabricated to fool those who had stayed at her house the last night.

Katherine's lips suddenly stretched into a disturbingly wide smile and her pupils constricted. Her tears stopped and her voice darkened.

"Did I do a good job, mistress?"

Katherine slowly lifted her head and looked straight at the once-empty couch in front of her, hands on either side of her face.

The girl that now occupied the couch giggled, crossing her legs in a dainty way while they were draped over one of the arms of the couch, her body sitting on the furniture sideways. Her legs swung back and forth as she licked the sucker in her hand, a smirk stretching her lips upwards.

"Yes, yes," she said joyfully. "It appears your acting skills have improved. You even fooled the son of Pluto, and his detective skills are extraordinary. My, my, though. That was a wonderful story to come up with on the spot."

"It was nothing, mistress," Katherine said humbly, standing up from her seat before dropping onto one knee and bowing before the girl. "I learned from you, of course. But I must admit that I was surprised when the boy suddenly cut straight through what I was pretending to hide. I honestly wasn't expecting him to figure it out."

The girl hummed thoughtfully and twirled the sweet around in her mouth before she pulled it out to speak. "That's Josh for you. I suppose you haven't learned everything yet. Never, under any circumstances, underestimate your opponent. You did a wonderful job on the interior of the house, though, I must say."

"Thank you, mistress," the black haired woman said humbly, blushing faintly at the praise. "But if I may so bold as to as, why did I not kill them while they slept? It would have been a simple task for me. And when did you get into town? You weren't here earlier."

The girl's eyes shone red underneath her hood. "I came to see things myself, and to take out some trash that decided to try and ruin things," she answered the second question vaguely. "And you cannot kill them," she said darkly, "because I need them alive for my game. It would be dreadfully boring if I had to play this by myself."

"Brilliant as ever, mistress," Katherine praised, smile twitching wider. "Shall I continue guiding them on their journey?"

"...Yes," the girl said after a pause, her free hand that wasn't holding the sweet up in front of her face. She flexed her pale fingers before clenching her hand into a tight fist. "No matter what Gaea thinks, I will be the one to kill Josh Adams and Perseus Jackson. I'll leave the rest to my father, and if he doesn't want them, then I shall give them to you and the others."

In a barn not far from the house, six children's eyes glowed red along with several others, including Katherine, as they all said at the same time: "Thank you, mistress."

The girl's lips pulled into a harsh smile. "Good." A giggle escaped her lips. "Game on, demigods. We have officially started. And now, you're playing by my rules."

_All I knew this morning when I woke_

_Is I know something now, know something now_

_I didn't before_

_And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago_

_Is green eyes, your freckles and your smile,_

_In the back of my mind making me feel like,_

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_

_-Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, Everything has changed_

* * *

Josh made a break back to the house. He trusted Katherine because of who her daughter was, nothing else. She seemed to be a genuine person, but it was dangerous to trust people with everything when you were a demigod. He had learned that the hard way, and it had cost him everything.

As he sped down the dirt road that led to the barn, he looked down briefly and saw the ground blurring beneath his feet. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he made his way forward. When he looked back up, he saw that a very familiar head of curly black hair was walking in the same direction as him, only at a more leisurely pace.

"Katherine!" Josh shouted, some of his old accent that he had worked so hard to get rid of coming through. It always happened when he was extremely frazzled or angry, but he couldn't be bothered by that fact right now.

The woman turned around with a small smile on her face which turned into a motherly frown when she saw his winded countenance.

"Josh," she nearly yelled, turning fully around and walking up to him. He stopped in front of her and she grabbed his shoulders gently, looking at his expression with clear concern.

"What happened? Are you okay? Did you see something that scared you?" she rapidly asked, face flushing with lack of oxygen as she continued to ask questions after the first three without pausing for a breath of air.

Josh blushed slightly, embarrassed about being worried over like he was a small child, and brushed her hands off his shoulders. "No time. Mrs. Shahar, me and my friends need to leave._Now_."

Katherine searched his face for something intently, and apparently found it, because she nodded seriously and turned the opposite way of the barn.

"Go get your friends," she said, suddenly sounding like a captain of an army. "I'll go the other way and start the car. I'll meet you by the road where it meets the trail that leads to the barn."

Josh nodded, satisfied with the plan. "Please be ready," he said before taking off towards the barn.

_I knew something wasn't right about this place,_he thought, panic building inside him. _What if Shazer and Lilaya are attacked by whatever got to that girl? It doesn't make sense. I don't know of any monster that has the capability to kill someone within seconds, without being seen, heard, or leaving a bloody trail. Whatever it was, it wasn't anything I have ever heard about before._

"Shazer! Lilaya!" Josh said as soon as he stepped foot through the entrance of the barn.

His eyes were greeted with the strange sight of several kids no older than eight clinging to Lilaya. One was on her back in a tight form of a piggyback, one on each of her legs, and one tugging on her hand, laughing like the rest while saying that he wanted to get a ride too. Three were watching the staggering blonde and laughing breathlessly, looking like they were having the time of their lives.

"You see?" Josh heard a boy say, and he turned his eyes to the left.

Shazer was standing next to a boy with brown hair and blue eyes, both of them frowning slightly, but Shazer's was softer than the boy's. His brunette friend was facing the kids and Lilaya (the blonde was slowly moving around and yelling, "Alright, get off! You're all too heavy!" but even so, she was laughing.), but her head was turned towards the boy and her chocolate brown eyes were fixated on him. Shazer's arms were crossed across her chest while the boy had his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Look at how happy they are," the boy said, gesturing to the kids. "Wouldn't having them be happy all the time make up for learning through pain? All happiness still seems better than some."

Josh rose his eyebrows. Was this boy delusional? No one could be happy all the time. It seemed like his sense of happiness was warped into something that wasn't realistic. It was like he believed that you had to be happy all the time, or you couldn't be happy at all.

Shazer sighed in frustration and gave her head a short shake, like she completely disapproved of everything the boy had just said and was getting fed up with him. Judging by this, Josh deduced that his friend must have tried to knock sense into the unknown teenager's apparently thick skull several times, but he still wasn't grasping what she was trying to get across.

"Look," Josh said, walking towards Shazer and the unknown boy, hands slipped almost casually into the pockets of the jeans he was wearing, "I don't know what you two are arguing about," he turned his gaze to the boy, "but it seems to me like you think you have to have happiness all the time or you can't be happy at all. Sadness, anger, and pain make life more interesting. You need a balance in your life - everyone does. A good amount of everything, or we become ungrateful." He turned his eyes to the brunette girl, radiating seriousness. "We need to go right now."

* * *

Thunder rumbled in the sky, a dark ring of clouds circling the empire state building. Mortals looked up, frowning at the weather and barely paying it another glance, thinking nothing of it other than a foretelling of rain. Another story was to be told, however, for up beyond what any mortal or demigod could see from below, a golden palace rested in the skies. A palace that currently held thirteen bickering gods.

"Why have you called us here, brother?" one god said, trident at his side. His sea green eyes swirled with emotions he could not hide, showing his irritation at his younger brother and ruler for calling them all there without notice.

"Be silent, Poseidon," a god with graying hair said, frown lines etched deeply into his face. "I shall explain all soon. However..." he trailed off, looking around the room at the thirteen that were there, as if someone was missing. "Our guest has yet to arrive."

"_Guest_?" Aphrodite echoed eagerly, leaning forward in her throne. Her golden curls were thrown behind her shoulders, not a hair out of place and looking as impeccably beautiful as always. "Who is it? Is it a boy? Is he handsome?"

On the other side of the **Ω **that the thrones made, two male gods scoffed and rolled their eyes, wishing that the goddess would pay more attention to himself rather than boys she fantasized about. They were Ares, god of war and Aphrodite's resident boyfriend, and Hephaestus, god of the forge and Aphrodite's estranged husband.

"Hush, Aphrodite," Athena scolded, but even so, there was curiosity glimmering in her gray eyes. "We shall see soon enough."

The goddess of love and beauty pouted and crossed her arms, staying silent.

"Where _is _that unreliable - ?"

As if waiting for that cue, a flash illuminated the room and not a second later, someone was standing there that made some of the other gods' and goddesses' faces sour.

"Hades," Artemis said in greeting, dipping her head slightly in acknowledgement. She had a greater respect for her uncle now because of how he had helped during the war. "Why did you come so late?"

The god of the dead had an unpleasant look plastered on his face as he strode to his throne. "_Because_, apparently, our _dearest king_ Zeus decided that he wanted to know the ramblings of the insane when I notified him of the things that had been constantly been shrieked in my domain."

Athena raised and intrigued eyebrow. "If I may ask, who are you talking about? And why are they so important to come here while everything is being thrown into chaos?"

"I was getting to that, daughter," Zeus said lightly, holding respect for his favorite daughter. The king of the gods cleared his throat and straightened in his throne, a stony look carved upon his face. "It has come to my attention that someone who has the gift of prophecy has been seeing some rather disturbing things lately. They will be here in a moment, as soon as I give Hades the signal to summon them, and then you shall know what is going on."

"Is it Rachel?" Apollo asked in concern, leaning forward slightly and gripping the armrests of his throne tightly. He had grown rather fond of the redheaded seer that had become the oracle of the camp and would feel devastated if she had gone insane while everything had been working so well for so long.

"No," Zeus said immediately, as to which the god of the sun relaxed visibly. "Hades, if you will."

With a dramatic sigh, the god of the underworld waved his hand and a moment later, knocking was heard on the giant doors of the throne room.

"Be cautious," Hades warned, giving all his relatives a serious look. "And do not get within ten feet. There is a reason she was locked up in an isolated part of the Fields of Punishment."

"'She'?" Aphrodite quoted, frowning. "I thought that is was a boy..."

The other gods stiffened, exchanging nervous and hard glances as Zeus waved his hand and the doors slowly creaked open.

Immediately all ears were assaulted with a harsh feminine voice rambling too softly under her breath for any of them to make out. Heavy chains clinked together and echoed off the marble floor as she made her way onwards, wrapped from the shoulders to her feet in black magic. A gray cloak was dragged behind her in a smoky chain, a hood concealing her face from view as she walked and finally stopped in the middle of the throne room.

"I'm sure you all recognize this face, even though it has been many centuries," Hades drawled. With a wave of his hand, the cloak disappeared, leaving her face in plain view.

The gods who did not know of the visitor beforehand gasped sharply and looked on with wide eyes. Aphrodite even shrieked in fear. But the one with the most prominent reaction was Apollo, who watched with large eyes, posture completely stiff and holding his breath.

_It can't be... _he thought nervously. But as he looked closer, it was.

Lovely rust-colored hair flowed down her back in soft waves, framing her once-beautiful face nicely. Once upon a time her cheekbones were high and cheeks rosy, but now her face looked ghoulish with how thin she was and her lips were chapped and dry. Her brown eyelashes framed her sky blue eyes, which held a look of insanity in them. Her thin lips were pulled into the slightest of smiles as she looked around, drinking in the sight of all the gods gathered together at one place.

"Yes," Hades drawled, not looking the least bit uncomfortable, "here is -"

"Cassandra," Apollo said, cutting his uncle off. His voice sounded strained. "You brought Cassandra."

Artemis looked nervously at her brother. There was a history between him and this dead woman, and she wasn't sure he was yet ready to face this skeleton in his closet. But now he had no choice, for she was standing in front of him.

The woman, looking about thirty years in age, turned her crazed eyes to the handsome god at the sound of his voice. Her lips stretched into a wider smile and she slowly took a few steps towards him.

"Apollo," she said breathily, slowly staggering forward like a zombie on a horror film. "Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo."

"Yes, yes," Hades said in slight irritation, his voice cutting through the heavy tension in the room. He waved his hands and a pair of chains came from the ground in the center of the throne room, winding around her and preventing her from moving further. Her eyes were still locked onto the shocked god's.

"That is Apollo," he continued, undaunted by the tension in the room. "Now tell him what you have been saying for the past few weeks."

The woman identified as Cassandra never broke the staring contest she was having with the god of the sun. "Cassandra is sorry. Cassandra has been a bad girl. Cassandra wants to go home with mommy."

Athena narrowed her eyes in thought. "What is she talking about?"

"Cassandra never wanted to break her promise," the woman continued, still speaking in third person. "Mommy said to, though. Cassandra can never go against mommy. Mommy gave Cassandra her powers."

"You mean Helen?" piped up Hermes, resting his chin on his fist.

"No," Cassandra said, shaking her head. "Her name is not Helen. Mommy just likes to pretend that. Mommy is not Cassanda's real mommy either. Cassandra was taken by mommy to have a new life, away from her life on the streets. Mommy was good to Cassandra, so Cassandra said that she would pretend to be mommy's daughter."

"Do you see now?" Hades suddenly spoke up, gaining the attention of all the gods but Apollo, who couldn't find it in himself to tear his eyes away. "She's completely insane. Of course, no one ever listens to me when I tell people about not giving mortals the power to See. But does anyone listen? No. And look at what the end result is."

"Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. Apollo must understand Cassandra. Apollo has to see what Cassandra sees. Mommy is mad at Apollo. Mommy wants Apollo gone. Cassandra doesn't want that. Cassandra likes Apollo. Cassandra loves Apollo," the woman said, voice on the verge of hysteria.

"Oh-kay," Poseidon said, staring at the crazed woman with a disturbed expression on his face. "I think it is time to take her back. Hades, if you will."

"_No_!" Cassandra shrieked, eyes suddenly clearing up slightly and seeing more than she had in the past hundreds of years. "You mustn't! Apollo has to understand before you send Cassandra back! You will all die if he does not understand! Cassandra came here to save Apollo, so she _will_ save Apollo!"

"I agree with Poseidon," Athena spoke up, shocking everyone into silence. "We need to send this woman back. She doesn't seem to bring a good omen with her."

"Just let her stay a bit longer," Hestia said, speaking up for the first time. "She doesn't seem to want to hurt us, so if nothing happens, what is the worst that could come of it?"

"But I do not want my time wasted," Dionysus grumbled, swirling his wine around in his glace.

An argument broke out among the gods, no one but Artemis and Athena noticing that not once did Apollo break his eyes away from Cassandra's. He hadn't spoken in a few minutes, either, and his eyes had gained a glazed look, as if he wasn't with them in the room. At least not mentally.

"Apollo?" Artemis called out hesitantly, starting to worry when there was no reply from the go-lucky god. "Brother? Can you hear me?"

Athena watched the scene with her lips pressed into a thin line and eyes narrowed calculatingly.

Worry started to clench at Artemis's stomach as she continuously called her twin's name with the same result. Gods around her started to notice what was happening and soon enough the argument had died down as everyone watched the events unfolding in front of them.

Fed up with the lack of reaction from her brother, Artemis didn't act rationally and drew her bow, fear for her sibling clouding her thoughts.

"Cassandra!" Artemis yelled, standing up. No one made a move to stop her. "What have you done to my brother?"

She got no response.

"Answer me!" the redheaded hunter continued, baring her teeth. "Release him!"

Silence reigned for a few more seconds, and just as she was about to fire, Apollo blinked and came to life, as if broken from a trance, and leaned back. His pupils were dilated in shock and sweat glossed his brow.

Cassandra smiled softly, eyes gaining more life. "Apollo understands."

"Apollo?" Artemis called to her brother, voice softer.

"Yeah, Artie?" he responded, closing his eyes and letting out a shaky breath of air.

"You okay?" she continued cautiously, ignoring his use of her nickname for once.

One of his eyes cracked open. "Yeah. But I don't think we will be for much longer." He tore his gaze away from his worried twin and focused his eyes on the smiling seer.

"Thank you, Cassandra," Apollo said gently, shocking some of the gods that did not know he could be so gentle.

"Cassandra is happy," the woman whispered, looking at peace. "Mommy will be angry, and Cassandra's soul will disappear, but Cassandra was glad that she could tell Apollo."

Before anyone could question her further, the shadows in the room seemed to gain form and swallow the woman before she disappeared before their very eyes.

"What happened?" Zeus thundered, an angry expression on his face as he turned to look accusingly at his brother.

Hades held his hands up in defense, trying and failing to hide his shock. "I don't know. I didn't send her back."

"Well don't let her just get away!" Zeus ordered. "Bring her back!"

Hades closed his eyes to do as his brother asked, only for his brow to knit with confusion a few agonizingly long seconds later. One minute passed. Two. Five.

"She's... gone," Hades said after a prolonged period of tense silence.

"What do you mean she is gone?" Athena questioned. "That's impossible. No spirit can just disappear from the underworld without a trace. It's highly illogical and -"

"Don't lecture me on my own domain, niece," Hades snapped warningly. "I know my realm well. The former princess is gone."

* * *

Daunte frowned as he watched the three demigods drive away in Katherine's car from his position on the side of the road. He stood there for several minutes, watching the blue car disappear in the distance and waited for a few more minutes before he spoke.

"Are they right?" he asked softly, a light breeze picking up and swaying his hair when the house at his side collapsed, walls and ceiling making hallow noises as they hit the ground.

"That depends," said a young, feminine voice behind him, "on what you believe."

He didn't turn to look. He knew who it was already.

"You grew up with me," he recalled, going into monologue, although he did not know why. "In the orphanage, when everyone else but Alice shunned me, you were always there. People thought you were my imaginary friend, until a group of kids started picking on me and you shoved them all down the stairs. Two died. One had a broken arm and a fractured elbow. The last got away with a few bruises, but was mentally traumatized afterwards. Alice started to believe in you as well, and that was the first and the last time we ever saw your face. Looking into your eyes, I knew I would do anything you asked of me. When you promised to grant my wish, my prayer. I haven't seen your face in four years, Lithelacinth. Were the demigods right?"

"That depends on what you believe," she repeated again, and this time Daunte did turn to look at her.

Once again she wore a cloak that covered her face, red this time, the color reminding him of blood. She had a blue sundress on and light blue shoes to match, making her look innocent. Her hands were clasped neatly in front of her as she stared after where the car had gone with a large smile on her face, revealing her unnaturally pointed canines.

The brunette teenager looked around, worry blooming in his chest when he did not see the dear friend he grew up with.

"Where is Alice?" he asked, seeing no harm in the question. It was Lithelacinth's minions he feared, not her. They were wild and unpredictable, but Lithelacinth was calm and good-natured. She would never do anything to hurt him, right?

The grin on Lithe's face faltered slightly. "Oh, dear Alice," she cooed. "Alice decided that she did not wish to have the privilege of living anymore."

Daunte's world halted around him as his long-time friend's words sunk in. "Y-you mean she's -"

"Dead. Yes."

The teen knew the girl long enough to recognize her tone of voice. It was the same tone she had used when she falsely led the bullies to believe that she did not want to hurt them while he and Alice had snickered cruelly in the background, knowing what was about to befall them. And now that voice was directed at him.

Daunte choked for words, feeling as though a knife had just jammed itself into his chest. "No... No. You didn't, did you? You weren't the one to kill her."

Lithelacinth didn't respond verbally, but smiled wider.

The invisible knife twisted. "Please, Lithe! Tell me you didn't! You couldn't have! You promised her that she would have a family! That was her wish, and you promised!"

The hooded girl shrugged in an unabashed way and turned to fully face him. "You are forgetting something, my dear friend. I did promise her a family, but that was only if she went along with my plan. A little test of loyalty, if you will. Sadly, right when she was faced with the Adams boy, her resolve broke and she was about to drop a hint about this wonderful town." She spread her arms dramatically, and if waiting for that cue, the fake buildings started falling apart. "Imagine how upset I would have been. All that effort put into making a false town for the demigods, wasted. So I killed her. It didn't break our promise at all. I _always _keep my promises. The catch to this one was that if you did anything to betray me, even in the smallest manner, I would break off our deal. And once you are no longer a part of my deal you are no longer in my protection, so it is fair, you see."

Daunte clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, hot rage flowing through his veins. Alice had been his friend. His everything. He couldn't imagine a world without her.

"Good thing is," Lithe continued in a too-jolly tone, "that I wasted nothing by killing her. She was below average. No remarkable talents, less than average intelligence - she was even average in looks!"

"Why you - !" Daunte swung a fist at the still-grinning monster, determined to plant his knuckles in her flesh and maybe break her nose if she was lucky.

He should have known he wouldn't get that far.

Faster than the mortal boy could blink, a figure appeared just in front of Lithe and caught his fist with one of his smaller hands. It took a heartbeat for some of Daunte's rage to fade so that he could think clearly, and when he recognized who the figure standing before him was, his pupils contracted in shock.

"Tsk, tsk, brother," the small boy that looked identical to the teen's fist he was holding in an iron grip. "You should have known better than to hurt our _dear friend_ and my _master_."

"Corrado," he whispered in shock, face pale and shaking in fear.

The boy who appeared to be younger grinned in a predatory way. "May I, mistress?"

Lithe hummed in thought and tapped her index finger to her bottom lip. "I suppose. But don't kill him and he needs to stay conscious, alright? I'm taking him and putting him with that insufferable girl with such a pretty voice later. He has betrayed me, and besides, it seems like she could use some company."

Corrado's formally blue eyes turned red, his pupil slitting like a reptile's. "Yes, mistress."

* * *

Katherine drove for a long time. Long into the day she drove, the dull scenery speeding past the windows. She didn't stop even once. Not even at a gas station to refill her car. Not that Josh and the others knew that, of course. They were fast asleep in the back, the gentle rocking of the car lulling them all to sleep.

Lilaya was in the middle, leaning her head against Shazer's shoulder, who was leaning her head against the window and muttering something under her breath every now and then that sounded suspiciously like "Nico." Josh, on the other hand, was sleeping with his head leaning against the window of the glass on his left, all tension gone from his face and actually looking extremely relaxed.

The black haired woman wanted to laugh at how well her mistress's plan was working, but she knew that if she did that, the demigods would awaken and her mistress would be less than pleased. Her soul would probably be -

The green eyed woman abruptly shook her head to clear the thoughts from her mind.

_I mustn't think like that, _she chided herself. _If I just follow mistress's orders, I will have nothing to fear. Nothing at all._

A groan from the back signaled that the demigods were starting to awaken. One look in the rearview mirror told Katherine that it was the son of Pluto. The other two demigoddesses were still fast asleep.

_And perfect timing, _Katherine thought, fighting the smirk off her face. _We're just a few minutes away._

Blearily the black haired teen blinked and looked around, taking a moment to collect his thoughts when he remembered where he was. The teen reached up to rub one of his eyes with his fist while he opened the other, looking younger than he actually was by the action. Taking a glance to the right, he saw that the two girls were still asleep, but Lilaya had started to drool on Shazer's shoulder.

Oddly amused yet still disgusted by the action, Josh allowed a small smile to creep onto his face.

_She's just like Claudia, _he thought in amusement. _She use to drool on Jacob's shoulder when he was around._

Josh's eyes softened at the thought, and for the first time since the accident, he wasn't saddened at the thought of his best friend.

The next few minutes were spent in silence, until Katherine pulled up to a curve in the sidewalk and dropped them off outside a pizzeria, the girls just starting to awaken as the woman handed Josh a wad of money, lecturing him on getting plenty of water and food and staying safe before driving away.

It wasn't until later that Josh wondered how she could have possibly known where they had wanted to go when he never told her. He had forgotten, too busy with chatting with his two friends in the back seat before he had fallen asleep.

* * *

"Hickory, dickory dock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, the mouse fell down, and splattered on the ground. Hickory, dickory dock. The mouse has gone away. To tell the time, just sing this rhyme, hickory dickory dock."

Locked in a fetal position in the corner of the room was a girl with choppy brown hair and glazed eyes that showed she wasn't there mentally. She was dressed in a pure white, baggy, hospital gown-like outfit. The walls were padded, and there was no bed in the room. The floor was tiled, and of course, white. There was one white door on the side of the room opposite of the girl, but it had no handle on the inside.

"The girl, the girl, swimming in the water; eating all her supper; where did she go? She went to sleep. The girl, the girl, not swimming in the water; not eating any supper; where did she go? She decomposed."

The room suddenly let out a quiet beeping noise that seemed to come from within the walls themselves, but it was very loud compared to the quietness that enveloped the room, save for the girl's singing, which had paused as soon as the soft noise had started. Something sparked in her green eyes and she lifted them to watch the door with unblinking eyes.

"_Ohayo_**(1)**, shojo**(2)**!" a cheery voice said as the door completely opened. "I brought you a friend~!"

The hooded girl walked into the room, dragging a beaten up and bloody boy by his brown locks. He whimpered and tried to get out of her painfully tight grip as he was dragged in the floor. A horrid feeling of deja vu filled the girl as she watched it happen, the boy reminding her eerily of herself as the events played out.

When the boy reached up in a final ditch effort to remove her hands from his hair and clawed at the hand, the hooded girl's face twisted to an expression of annoyance and she threw the boy forward, making him slam into the wall with a painful crack before falling into a whimpering mess of limp limbs on the floor.

"Enjoy your stay," the girl said, addressing the boy. "You'll be here for a long, _long _time. Just ask her," she said, talking about the brown haired girl.

As she walked away and the door slid shut, the boy sniffed and curled into himself, looking lost.

_"Why are you here?" _the girl wanted to ask, but the words were stuck in her throat. It was as if she had suddenly forgotten how to speak normally.

As if knowing what she wanted to say though, the boy rubbed his face, trying to get rid of the tears, and said in a thick voice: "I thought she was my friend."

At that, the brown haired girl did speak.

"She has no friends," she said simply, staring at the boy who looked at her with a shocked expression with one void of emotion. "Only toys and 'players'."

And with that, the girl went back to staring at the blank walls and singing children's songs.


	2. Chapter 2

**I AM ALIVE! F YEAH!  
Okay, I am so sorry about the long delay. For reasons I don't care to explain, I have been super busy lately. Sorry!  
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and tell me what you think!  
Once again I have to put the warnings in here, read at your own risk. There are really dark themes in this chapter and I will not take responsibility for anyone's sensitivity.  
Disclaimer! I do not own Percy Jackson or stories by the Brother's Grimm.**

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**Button Eyes**

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* * *

_This isn't right. No, no, no, no! She's my _friend_. She promised me a future of peace and happiness with everyone. I wanted a family. Friends forgive each other, right? She'll come around. She has to. The other girl doesn't know what she is talking about. She is clearly insane. I made one little mistake. She'll get over it, right? I'll be let out soon, right? Yes, yes. She will come and get me out. I know she will. She always comes through in the end. She won't kill me. Or torture me. That's what she did to the other children. But they deserved it. Who cares about them, anyway? Faceless orphans. Yes. She cares about me._

_The door creaked open. A hooded girl stepped into the room._

_"Time to play," she sung. Her voice was steel wrapped in a thin layer of silk. "Time to show you what I do to traitors."_

* * *

"The two sisters were happy to hear this, for they had pretty feet. With her mother standing by, the older one took the shoe into her bedroom to try it on. She could not get her big toe into it, for the shoe was too small for her. Then her mother gave her a knife and said, 'Cut off your toe. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot.'

The girl cut off her toe, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her. However, they had to ride past the grave, and there, on the hazel tree, sat the two pigeons, crying out:

_Rook di goo, rook di goo!_  
_There's blood in the shoe._  
_The shoe is too tight,_  
_This bride is not right!_"

Giggling filled the air as the small girl rolled onto her back and kicked her legs up in the air, the thick book of fairy tales clutched tightly in her hands.

"I love this story!" she crowed happily, rolling over onto her stomach. The slip of a girl produced a highlighter from the depths of the pockets on her loose shorts and highlighted a section on the page before nodding. She crossed her ankles and swung her feet back and forth in the air. "I think this will go nicely with the story _I_ have planned." She tapped the highlighter against her lip. "And... oh, this! Yes, yes, yes!"

Across the room, a door painted crimson opened and shut quietly as a tall man without the use of his usual golden helmet stepped into the room without a sound and crossed the soft carpeted floor. The black carpet stood out sharply against his outfit.

The girl didn't turn around and acknowledge his presence until she had finished the page she was examining.

"Hello, Chysaor," she said, flipping the page. Her eyes never once strayed from the ink. "I suppose you are here to tell me something?"

"Yes, Lithe," he said, tone flat. "You requested this."

The tall man held out a rag doll he had clutched in one of his hands, treating it more like it was a priceless heirloom rather than a stuffed piece of cloth. The doll had blonde string hair and was wearing a tiny hand-sewn sundress with little white cloth boots on it's feat as well. The mouth was sewn into a small smile, but it had no eyes.

Lithe sat up to take the doll from her half-brother's grasp and reached into her other pocket and pulled out two silvery-blue buttons. From seemingly thin air she produced a needle and threat before beginning to sew the buttons on the eyes.

"Forgive me for asking, if this displeases you, sister," Chysaor said, seemingly grimacing at the word 'sister.' "But what are you doing?"

"I'm glad you asked, Chy," Lithe said in a light tone, sewing the last button on. "I have become rather entertained by human stories and have for awhile, as you know, so I decided to make our hero's challenge more interesting. Some of them will die, of course, but they need to for me to be able to complete my story."

Silence enveloped the room as Chrysaor waited for his sister to say more.

"I got this idea from a cute little show called 'Coraline.' I'm rather disappointed in the ending, but I quite enjoyed how the woman's mind worked in that film." Lithe cut the threat and held the doll up before her eyes for a closer examination. "It was enjoyable. I was thinking on trying the same thing on one of my toys in the play room, but first I had to make this one for our cute little daughter of Aphrodite."

As if that was the cue Chrysaor had been waiting for, he handed Lithelacinth another doll that he had hung on his belt. It was the same design as the other one, only this one had brown hair and was wearing an orange t-shirt and jeans. Lithe started sewing green buttons on for the eyes.

"Lynzee will like this one, I think," she said cheerfully. "I will make it just like her and let her think that it is a world her mind escapes to after I visit her. But when the other me offers for her to stay..." The girl who appeared to be no more than twelve let out a mad laugh. "She will be in for quite the surprise, won't she?

'Would you like to stay here forever? There's just one thing you have to do,' says the sweet girl as she pushes a box that contains two green buttons and a needle in front of her.

'So sharp you won't feel a thing,' says Amber.

Oh well, thinks Lynzee. If this is just a dream, then it won't matter. Anything is better than out there, at any rate.

'Okay, I will do it.'

Lynzee lets the sweet Amethyst sew the buttons into her eyes and suddenly she is thrown back into the real world, where her eyes are gone and she has buttons instead of eyes!"

Lithelacinth fell to the floor in a fit of giggles after her narration, looking absolutely delighted.

Chrysaor swallowed thickly. There was some disgusting monsters in Tartarus, but in his personal opinion, Lithe beat them all. He didn't know what it was about her that made her so evil. Maybe it was that all of the possible good feelings she could have had went to the Other? Was it that she gave people all of the false hope and even more than they could swallow before she abruptly revealed it for what it was and took it all away, showing that it was just a hopeless illusion? And illusion that left people shattered beyond repair because they found out that the angel that was trying to help them escape was actually the monster that captured them in the first place and never planned on letting them go.

Chrysaor sighed. He would let Lithe do as she pleased. There was no hope of controlling her anyway. He just silently let himself pity the poor souls that crossed her path. 

* * *

When the three demigods sat at the table in the restaurant, the first thing the blonde did was facedesk. Or facetable, in this case.

"I...can't believe it," she said, tone thick with disbelief. "We gave up the comfort of food, shelter, free clothes... All for what, exactly?"

The brunette looked expectantly at the black haired demigod. Said boy shifted uncomfortably.

"Listen," he said, his tone full of his seemingly never-ending patience, "I haven't figured out all of the details yet, but I'll be sure to tell you when I find out, okay?"

Silence met his statement. The blonde teenager lifted her forehead from the table (where there was now a red mark from where she had slammed it into the wood) and gave him a glare strangely similar to that of her companion's.

"Josh..." the brunette said in warning.

Josh raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. "Don't worry about it, Shazer. I'll take care of it."

Shazer slumped back in her seat and glared daggers at her friend.

Josh put his hands down. "Women," he grumbled under his breath, running a hand through his already messy hair.

"What was that?" Shazer and Lilaya demanded at the same time, glaring daggers at the poor demigod. Shazer was gripping her fork tightly and Lilaya looked about ready to leap across the table and strangle him to death.

"Nothing, nothing," he said quickly, trying (and failing quite spectacularly) to ease their tempers. "Listen, I'm going to order food. What do you guys want?"

Like that was the magic words, both girls relaxed before speaking at the same time.

"Pepperoni pizza!"

"Make sure there are olives!"

Josh groaned and massaged his temples to help ease his splitting headache. It didn't work.

"Okay, I've got it. Waitress!"

A woman with an apron whipped around her torso that hung down to her thighs walked over, wearing jeans and a plain blue t-shirt.

Josh looked down at the table to grab some napkins from the holder that he knew they were going to need, when he heard her voice.

"What is it I can get for you today?"

Josh froze. Lilaya sat up so fast she got whiplash. Shazer turned pale.

What... What was _she_ doing here?


	3. Chapter 3

**Here with another chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this. Please give me your thoughts and feel free to be blunt! I'll need it, trust me!**  
**CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ACCEPTED! FLAMES ARE BS AND NO ONE CARES SO YOU CAN KEEP THEM TO YOURSELF!**  
**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson in any way, shape, or form. I'm a high school student. Really think that I even have time to write half of that shit? Errr, it's good writing, of course, or else I wouldn't even be doing this. Yeah.  
****Sorry if I got this wrong earlier, but Lynzee's eyes are _brown_, not green. I might have confused her with Amber.  
Thanks sonofthetrigod! True friend, great inspiration, stubborn as ever, tolerant enough to put up with me.  
And happy late birthday to you as well!  
Thank you, both sonofthetrigod and TailsDoll13 for helping me when I was stressed out of my mind~!**

* * *

_"A sword will surely kill her. Get me close enough to sneak up behind her, where I can cut out her heart!" the warrior clenched his fist so tightly that it shook, an expression of anger painted on his face._

_A small boy, not even twelve, spoke up. "But isn't she just a girl? I - I don't want to kill anyone -"_

_"She is not a human!" the warrior snarled, looking around at the group of survivors and meeting their eyes, trying to convey his seriousness._

_A woman crying and holding her crying baby. Three farmers that were all above the age of thirty. A woman in her late teens that was sobbing over the loss of her husband. Three orphaned children - a twelve year old boy, a fourteen year old girl, and a seventeen year old boy. All siblings._

_"We're the only ones left," the youngest teenage girl said brokenly. "We have to fight."_

_The warrior nodded. He was glad that he was released from his position early, so at least he had a chance to protect his loved ones. His parents were dead, killed by that monster out there who was playing in the ashes of the burning buildings._

_"You," the warrior said, pointing at the boy, who straightened up, "run west and get help from any survivors you can. If the monster is dead by then, we have succeeded. Do not come back empty handed."_

_The boy nodded before taking off, sprinting through trees and away from the direction of the burning village._

_The warrior looked at the farmers. "Help me cause a distraction. Use your pitchforks, wave anything you can. Try to stay alive."_

_The farmers nodded._

_"The rest of you stay here," the warrior instructed in a tone that left no argument. "If we start dying, run to the nearest village and hide. Don't try and save us."_

_The women and kids nodded in understanding and the women started sobbing._

_"Good." The warrior gripped the sword in his hand tighter. It was something that he never thought he would have to use again. "Let's go say this monster."_

_The plan seemed to go accordingly at first._

_The monster that took the form of a small girl with deathly pale skin and cropped black hair played in the hot ashes of a burning hut. Her feet were bare and her toga was ripped and stained. They couldn't see her eyes from where they were at, but what did it matter?_

_One of the farmers braved the plan first and went out into the open, holding a rake. He tightened his hands around the farming tool he planned to use as a weapon and called out to the girl._

_"Hey!"_

_His call worked, and the girl looked towards his shaking figure. Her head tilted to the side like she found something interesting that she couldn't quite figure out._

_With his bravery, the other two farmers came out from the foliage and stood on either side of him, silently trying to give him their support._

_"You mons'er!" the farmer on the right cried, throwing a rock at her. It feel completely short, but the girl seemed to get the message. She leisurely stood up from her kneeling position and dusted off her garments, not noticing the warrior that was slinking towards her from behind._

_"Who~. Are~. You~?"_

_The farmers stiffened when they heard her voice, as did the people hiding in the woods. It was spoken softly yet it reached their ears easily, as if she had whispered it while standing next to them. Every word she whispered sounded like it was sung._

_Sweat broke out on everyone that heard the voice - which happened to be everyone but the soldier, who was a mere seven yards away from the monster now._

_"We're here to stop you!" the farmer in the middle said, trying to sound brave._

_The girl's smile stretched disturbingly wide. It was as if someone took the corners of her mouth and lifted them up as high as they could._

_"You are~? My, my~! How do you plan to do that~?" She seemed entertained, as if a pet just did something amusing in front of her._

_Two yards away. So close now, victory was practically in their grasp._

_The farmer on the left - figuring that the warrior was close enough - let a cocky smirk slide onto his face. "You're gonna be dead before morn! We'll skin y're hide and pu' i' on a flag fo' eve'yone ta see! We'll tell people that we slain a monster with our bare hands."_

_The girl seemed even happier. She clapped her hands in delight. "Oh, how exciting! I love a good story. I can tell one, too! Once upon a time, there was-"_

_A sword pierced through her where her heart was, and an expression of shock morphed her features. Blood leaked from the wound and she made desperate, choking noises before the warrior lifted her off the ground, still skewered to the weapon. She went limp while her body was still in the air, her form sliding down to the hilt of the weapon._

_The farmers cheered and those that were hiding in the bushes joined in as well and came out, although the woman with the child and the two youngest kids that could understand what was happening looked slightly ill._

_The warrior dropped his sword towards the ground and the dead body slid off the blade and hit the ground with a dull thud. For good measure - just to make sure that she was really dead, or to satisfy his own revenge, he didn't know - he stabbed the girl through the throat, her wide, dull brown eyes staring at nothing._

_The widow ran up to the warrior and embraced him, whispering "thank you" again and again in his ear. The other villagers crowded around him as well, giving their thanks and telling him how they would forever be indebted to him._

_All but one seventeen year old boy._

_He eyed the body on the ground suspiciously, not trusting himself to get closer to her. Something about it still felt... off. Not that he wasn't happy, but he felt like he couldn't be. After all of that chaos and death, there was no way that she could be gone that easily. They had veterans in their village, and none of them were slouches when it came to fighting._

_So how did three farmers and a warrior manage to be rid of her?_

_The answer came when the body on the ground started laughing._

_Everyone backed away from it in horror, noticing how the girl's eyes were still blank and how the holes from the fatal wounds were still fresh and had stopped gushing blood, usually a sign that the victim was dead._

_"What's happening?!" the fourteen year old girl yelled, tearing up in fear and shaking from head to toe._

_The warrior was speechless. He was sure that the two wounds he had given her should have killed her without fail._

_The girl's upper body heaved itself from the ground, like a marionette's strings tugging the puppet upwards._

_"How fun! Such hope you were filled with!" the girl crowed, the glassy look slowly leaving her eyes. The villagers watched in horror as her flesh mended back together at superhuman rates._

_"Now, let's have the real entertainment begin, shall we?"_

_And lastly her eyes turned from a dull brown to a bloody red, her pupil slitting like a snake's._

_"You shall follow me now wherever I go. I think I'll have you be my eyes and ears from now on, ne?"_

* * *

_It's not fair, really. People will mock you and treat you badly because they don't understand. They'll call you stupid, or tease you, or maybe even physically harm you. No one said that life would be easy, but no one said that it would be hard either. Sometimes she just wished that she could go back to the start when—when was the start? Was it when she could freely enjoy a life without pain and sorrow? When the world was looked at with innocent eyes that had yet to experience pain and torture, all the horrors that the world had to offer? She didn't know. All she knew was that anything would be better than where she was now._

_So of course she accepted the offer._

_It was ironic. She prided herself on not trusting anymore, but once she had the idea in her head that it was something she created, a world that she could be safe in, she dropped her guard. And what did that bring her? _

_More pain. Endless pain. Her eyes still throbbed as she was robbed of something else she knew that she would never be able to get back._

_She really was stupid._

* * *

Lynzee couldn't see.

Admittedly, she use to think that if she couldn't see, it would be a blessing, because then she wouldn't see that horrible, _horrible _smile and those unforgiving eyes. Now she wished that she could go back in time and slap herself for thinking that way.

She wanted her eyesight back. She wanted to feel the joy that welled up inside of her when Lithelacinth would show her a glimpse of the outside world through a mirror. She wanted to see Amber's adorable smiling face again, grinning up at her with her hair tangled in shrubbery. Hell, she would even want the pain back that came when someone or something accidentally poked you in the eye! But instead...

The teenage girl reached up a hand and gently touched where her eye should be. Her fingers met smooth plastic.

Buttons. Buttons had replaced her eyes.

_"Of course, black _is _traditional. Will you do it? Besides, even if you do, it won't affect you in your other world, will it? Please?" _

_"Yes, yes! Oh, please sis! Please!"_

What kind of an idiot would fall for such an obvious trap?

_Oh, that's right. Me._

She had awoken from her dream to hear that boy's scream. She couldn't remember his name. Did he even give it to her?

Panic. _I can't see! Why can't I see? _Pain. _It stings SO MUCH. So bloody much. Hades, please help! _And despair. _What happened?_

The girl shuddered as she remembered what happened next. She should have seen that coming.

_A delightful giggle. "Oh, you look so prettier in real life than you did in my dream world! Do you know how long it took me to set that up? Two weeks! Worth the effort, though. Look at you! You look so pretty! Like a little doll." Hands gently touched the button sewn where her eyes should have been. "I'm very pleased with my handiwork. You look as though you've been crying blood! Beautiful!"_

Betrayal ate at her heart, but that wasn't the worst of it. Oh, no. The pain that came afterwards made every moment before look like a bloody picnic.

The problem here was the _singing. _Day after day, the singing got louder in her ears.

_"Then the girl fell asleep_  
_And one or two embers in the fading ashes in the fire_  
_Flared up into the shape of a beloved face._  
_Dreaming many thousand of dreams_  
_Spreading across the land_  
_Your earthly brown eyes shine their light_  
_Like stars falling down from the night sky."_

The last part was a mockery of her, she knew. The demoness constantly sung that to let the words burrow into her skin, like an infection that was impossible to get rid of.

_Holy hell _did she wish for it to stop. _Every bloody second_, she prayed with all her heart for her sight to come back, damning the consequences.

One day (or night, she couldn't exactly tell) she heard _his _voice.

"_LITHELACINTH! _Someone is here to see you! Come now!"

It was great. It was booming. It shook her down to her core.

"Coming!" the red-eyed girl called back. Lynzee could hear the frown in her voice.

And she left.

And _that _is when she figured it out.

_That _is when everything clicked into place.

Because Lithe _never _took orders from _anyone_.

_That _was when Lynzee figured out that Lithe wasn't the one running this horror show.

She was simply the one carrying out orders.

* * *

Shazer was the first to speak.

"What the _fu—_"_  
_  
Lilaya cut in before Shazer could finish (what would have undoubtedly been a rather foul string of words).

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

The pretty waitress twirled a strand of caramel-colored hair around her finger. She gave them a secretive wink.

"What do you mean? I don't believe we 'ave met befo'e, 'ave we?" her strange accent twanged sharply. She twirled the pen around her fingers. "Alright then, JoJo. What is it I can get fo' you ladies?"

"Cmmdiph!" Shazer's muffled voice came from under Lilaya's hand, eyes wide as she looked at her friend.

Josh was shocked beyond belief. Something wasn't making sense. How had she gotten to another country and ended up exactly where they were? He stayed silent, looking at the girl with wide eyes.

Shazer jumped up from the seat, abandoning all stealth, and full-on glomped the caramel haired girl.

"My savior!" she cried happily, ignoring how people were eyeing them strangely. "We want a large pepperoni pizza, with olives!"

Claudia let out a light laugh and patted Shazer's back awkwardly with one hand.

"Li'l lady, I'm afraid you'll have to let go now. People are starting to stare."

Lilaya looked around, and sure enough, people around the restaurant were staring at the group as if they were crazy. Which actually might not have been that far off base.

"_Fanciulla! Tornare al lavoro!_"

Lilaya winced as the angry man's voice grated on her ears.

"Yeah, yeah!" Claudia yelled back. "I'll be out in a minute, chief!"

The caramel-haired girl then turned to the trio and gave them an exasperated look. "Just a minute. You're savior will be back in no time with your sustenance."

Shazer let her friend go and happily sat down. "I can't believe our luck! Running into Claudia in Rome! What are the odds?"

"Yes," Josh muttered under his breath, but Lilaya just caught the words. "What _are _the odds?"

"Josh?" the blonde muttered, confused.

Shazer caught on and looked at her black-haired friend, semi-worried. "What are you thinking, Josh? Aren't you happy to see Claudia?"

"Hm."

Awkward silence descended on the three for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts, but not too deeply that they weren't paying attention to the area around them.

"'Ere ya go," Claudia said, skipping up to them with a pizza in hand. "Pepperoni, olives."

She set the steaming dish on the table and Shazer eagerly took a piece, as well as Lilaya. Josh stayed where he was at, looking at the legacy of Apollo curiously.

"How did you get away from the Legion?"

Claudia sent him a sunny smile. "Wasn't easy, I tell you. But the bloody idiots were running around like headless chickens when they encountered the Greeks. It wasn't too difficult to slip away." Her face fell into a more serious expression. "But more importantly, how is your quest going?"

Shazer and Lilaya hadn't eaten their pizza yet, although they were sending longing looks at the cheesy slices. They were more focused on the conversation for the moment.

"Good," Josh said.

Lilaya blinked curiously. His words sounded carefully measured, yet he was still relaxed and friendly.

"We think we're making good progress so far," he added.

Claudia smiled thinly. "Well, that's good. Can't have you lot falling behind now, eh?"

Josh's lips curved into a thin smile that matched his friend's. "No, I suppose we can't."

Lilaya watched the exchange awkwardly. Shouldn't two friends be happy to see each other?

Shazer's stomach let out a growl, and she grimaced and grabbed her pizza. Lilaya's eyes widened in shock as Josh grabbed the brunette's wrist, preventing her from doing so.

"Don't," he warned, voice flat.

Shazer's mouth fell open. "Why?"

His eyes narrowed dangerously, and his gaze focused on the bewildered-looking Claudia. "Because that would be cliche, wouldn't it? And Lithe just _loves _things that are cliche and like fairy tales."

Lilaya swallowed thickly as the tension in the building seemed to multiply, almost like a physical force.

Claudia looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Josh let go of Shazer's wrist, apparently pleased that she wasn't going to eat the pizza. "Drop the act. I know you aren't Claudia. You messed up. Now, tell me, who are you?"

A large, familiar grin stretched at "Claudia's" lips. "Wonderful, son of Pluto. But, tell me: How did you figure it out?"

Josh's expression was stony. He held up a black dagger, and Lilaya had no idea where he had gotten it from. "You said the 'h' in have, earlier. You played the part well, but if you had done more extensive research you would know that Claudia never says that letter. She hates it."

The Claudia impersonator's smile seemed to almost split her face in half. "Surely she has to mess up some time."

Josh's lips thinned. "Never. She _never _says it. Do you know why?"

The girl's head tilted to the side. "I don't believe I do. Will you be so kind as to explain it to me?"

Josh looked almost relieved. "Now I know you aren't who I feared you were. That's good."

The impostor looked surprised, but before anyone could react, Josh leaped from his seat and tackled her to the floor.

People in the restaurant screamed and ran out as the two grappled, throwing chairs and anything portable that they could find at each other.

"We have to do something!" Shazer yelled at Lilaya, looking panicked.

"What?" the blonde yelled back, her heart in her throat.

"Just help Josh!"

The two girls scrambled around the beaten-down area, throwing whatever they could find at the girl pretending to be Claudia, and more often than they cared to admit, they missed.

Something glinted on the floor, catching Lilaya's eye. A silver dagger the length of her bicep sat on the ground underneath the chair where the Claudia impostor and Josh had been moments before.

As quickly as she could, Lilaya crouched down and snatched it up, inspecting it. It was nothing special, and could possibly be a pizza cutter. Before she could fully process what she was doing, she stood back up and launched the knife at the girl, a blank expression on her face. The caramel-haired girl dropped to the ground with a cry of surprise as the blade embedded itself into her right knee.

Josh took the moment to stab his dagger into the back of her collar and pin her to the floor, his hand on the blade to keep her there.

A bitter laugh escaped the girl's lips as the two demigoddesses inched closer to their friend.

"That was the sign you were talking about, huh?"

All three mortals watched in surprise as the girl's hair changed from caramel to brown, her skin tanned, and her body shape, eyes, and features followed after.

"Who are you?" Josh snarled dangerously. "Where is Claudia?"

Lilaya tried to keep her body from shaking in fear. That was the first time she had ever heard Josh talk like that. He sounded...almost _fe__ral_ and she didn't know what to think of it. The Josh she knew was calm and collected, no matter the situation.

The girl on the ground offered him a pained smile. "I'm just a puppet. As are you. As are _all _of you. I'm nothing but the damn messenger bird here. I was suppose to tell you that my mistress looks forward to playing with you, and maybe even kill one of you off in the process. Oh, but she looks forward to having you as a puppet, Mr. Josh Adams. She knows _everything _about you. She wants you to be her _doll_, not her puppet. I don't know whether to be jealous or to fear for you."

Lilaya frowned deeply. "Why would you be jealous?"

The girl let out a mad laugh. "Because then I could have bloody well died _centuries _ago. But I'm stuck. Here."

Josh pulled the knife from the floor and held it to her throat, a snarl twisting his features. "Enough riddles. Answer my question. What did you do to Claudia?"

The girl looked fearful, but didn't pull away. "I believe that you first worded it as, 'where is Claudia'?"

Josh pressed the knife against her throat, drawing a thin line of blood. "You think I'm playing, don't you? Where is she?"

A grim look came onto her features. "And the queen said, 'Off with their head!'"

Josh slit her throat.

Lilaya screamed as the girl's lifeless eyes looked at her in what seemed to be an accusing way. Dimly, she could hear Shazer yelling, but her senses tunneled to the dead girl on the floor. A few seconds later she came back, but her brain didn't fully register what was going on. Shazer held Josh by the collar of his shirt, standing up, and was yelling at him.

"You killed her!"

"Yes."

"Why?!"

"Because she knew where Claudia was."

"She was an innocent-"

Josh's eyes hardened. "She was _not _innocent. I knew her."

"_That doesn't give you the right to kill someone_!"

Josh stayed silent.

Shazer scoffed. "What _the hell _Josh. You just... Look, I know Claudia is important to you, but remember that she is my friend, too. I care about her just as much as you do. But... You _killed _that girl, Josh."

The black-haired boy looked at his handiwork on the floor, a slightly dazed expression on his face, like he didn't really know what he had just done.

"If it's any consolation, she wasn't human."

"What?" Lilaya muttered.

"She had shape-shifting abilities. And no human should be able to live as long as she did and live... Never mind. She also mentioned that she should have died centuries ago. Again, not something a normal human can do. Just... just trust me on this."

"But why did you kill her?" Shazer asked, avoiding looking at the body.

"It's my-" Josh stopped suddenly, as if he just realized what he was about to say, and licked his lips nervously. "She quoted _Alice in Wonderland_."

One look at Shazer and the blonde demigoddess knew that her friend was just as confused as she was.

"So?" Lilaya asked.

Josh looked at the floor, his bangs hiding his eyes. "That's a special someone's favorite story."

"Claudia?" Lilaya guessed.

"No." Josh sighed. "Let's just say that I know a lot more about the enemy than I probably should." He brushed past the two girls as he made his way to the exit.

* * *

Claudia wasn't one to cry, especially after what she had been through, so she held in her tears as the girl circled her.

It was strange, really. One moment she was asleep, and the next she was here. Not to mention, the girl hadn't even touched her, yet her body shook with fear and her instincts repeatedly screamed at her to run.

She wanted to listen to her instincts.

She really, really did.

Because the last time she ignored her instincts, the person she loved very much got killed.

The mysterious girl gave the terrified demigoddess a vicious smile. "Let's play a game."


End file.
